•  m  m  m 


RUNNER® 

JERUSALEM 


A.GOODRICH 
fe  FREER  < 


INNER     JERUSALEM 


OUTER   ISLES 

BY 

A.  GOODRICH-FREER 

ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  ALLAN  BARAUD 

Price  I2S.  6d.  net. 
Popular  Edition,  Price  55.  net. 


"This  book  is  not  simply  the  outcome  of  a  holiday 
visit.  Miss  Freer  has  spent  summer  after  summer  in 
these  islands.  She  has  made  friends  with  and  obtained 
the  confidence  of  their  inhabitants,  and  has  moreover  ex- 
hausted all  available  written  authorities The 

result  is  a  work  which,  while  it  may  be  termed  popular, 
contains  a  great  deal  of  exact  and  authoritative  ;informa- 
tion.  It  may  be  cordially  recommended  as  worthy  of 

perusal Considering    that  they   (The   Outer 

Hebrides)  are  part  of  the  United  Kingdom  it  may  be 
surprising  how  little  is  known  of  them,  even  by  the 
average  member  of  the  Geographical  Society." — Scottish 
Geographical  Magazine. 


INNER   JERUSALEM 


BY 
A.    GOODRICH-FREER 

AUTHOR    OF    "  OUTER    ISLES,"  ETC. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW   YORK 

E.  P.  DUTTON   b5   COMPANY 
1904 


BUTLER  &  TANNER, 

THE  SELWOOD  PRINTING  WORKS, 

FROME,  AND  LONDON. 


PREFACE 


NO  one  can  be  more  conscious  than  the  writer  of  a  book 
on  Jerusalem,  perforce  the  student  of  other  books 
on  Jerusalem,  that  the  production  of  yet  another  requires 
a  reason,  if  not  an  excuse.  The  special  point  of  view  of  the 
present  work  is  set  forth  in  the  text,  and  I  venture  to  hope 
that  it  may  have  some  value  for  those  interested  in  studying 
the  practical  outcome,  psychological  and  religious,  of  a 
history  so  unique — even  its  Christian  sanctity  apart — as 
that  of  the  Holy  City. 

The  irresponsible  aggregation  of  races,  languages  and 
creeds  collected  in  Jerusalem,  and  that  lack  of  any  standard 
of  public  opinion  which  results  from  the  entire  absence  of 
a  public  press,  combine  to  make  it  exceedingly  difficult 
to  obtain  accurate  information  upon  any  subject  whatever. 
I  have  devoted  over  two  years,  with  certain  special  facilities 
for  investigation,  to  the  personal  study  of  Inner  Jerusalem, 
and  have  spared  neither  cost — of  many  kinds — nor  pains, 
in  collecting  material.  For  deductions  I  am  personally 
and  solely  responsible,  without  reference  to  the  many  kind 
friends  from  whom  I  have  received  opinions  and  advice. 

The  names  of  many  books  occur  in  the  course  of  these 
pages,  naturally  of  very  varying  merit.  Those  of  value  to 
the  merely  English  reader  are,  however,  easily  enumerated. 
The  story  is  told  that  an  early  edition  of  Murray's  Guide 
appeared  with  the  motto,  "  The  Bible  is  the  best  guide- 
book to  Palestine,"  and  that  the  ensuing  Baedeker  retorted 
with,  "  Palestine  is  the  best  guide-book  to  the  Bible." 
The  Bible,  Josephus  and  Baedeker  together —  our  cosmo- 

v 


PREFACE 

politan  friend  is  nowhere  more  trustworthy  than  in  Syria 
/" — form  a  fairly  sufficient  library.  To  make  up  "  the  twelve 
best  books  "  for  the  amateur  visitor  to  Jerusalem,  I  would 
add,  first,  G.  A.  Smith's  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy 
Land,  and  next  Clay  TrumbulFs  Studies  in  Oriental  Social 
Life,  from  which  even  the  most  unintelligent  tourist  may 
learn  what  to  observe.  Next  would  come  Besant  and 
Palmer's  History  of  Jerusalem,  and  Post's  Flora  of  Syria, 
which  perhaps  is  too  technical  for  the  amateur,  though  an 
indispensable  companion  to  even  the  shortest  ramble  for 
the  specialist.  Then  I  would  take  Lady  Burton's  Inner 
Life  of  Syria,  and  the  still  earlier  Domestic  Life  in  Palestine 
by  Miss  Rogers  (1855),  however  much  I  might  be  assured 
by  observers  less  profound  than  these  very  interesting 
authors,  that  both  were  out  of  date.  For  lack  of  anything 
equally  informing  among  more  modern  writers,  I  would 
finish  my  collection  with  Finn's  Stirring  Times,  Robinson's 
Biblical  Researches,  and  Williams'  Holy  City,  although  all 
N  are  over  half  a  century  old. 

One  who  has  plenty  of  leisure  may  select  many  articles 
of  interest  out  of  the  thirty  and  odd  volumes  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund.  The  learned  will  not  fail  to  read 
Curtiss'  Primitive  Semitic  Religion,  and  Barton's  Semitic 
Origins,  nor  the  devout  the  Early  Pilgrims'  Texts.  Other 
English  and  American  works  are  of  interest  to  those  who 
travel  farther  north,  while  a  score  of  German,  and  half  a 
dozen  French  books,  are  essential  to  any  serious  student. 
Life  is  not  wholly  at  a  standstill,  even  in  Jerusalem,  and 
as  this  book  has  been  passing  through  the  press,  certain 
changes  have  occurred.  Even  science  has  arrived  among 
us,  and  the  German  Emperor's  Institute  for  the  study  of 
Oriental  learning  has  completed  its  first  year  of  work ; 
how  gratefully  appreciated  has  been  testified  by  the  large 
attendance,  not  only  of  the  German  population,  as  well  as 
of  special  students  from  the  Fatherland,  but  of  European 
residents  of  both  sexes,  and  also  of  Jews  and  Arabs,  and, 

vi 


PREFACE 

perhaps  more  remarkable  still,  of  members  of  religious 
Orders,  Greek  and  Latin. 

The  surpassing  interest  of  the  German  Institution  may 
partly  account  for  the  fact  that  during  the  same  period  the 
American  School  has  not  had  a  single  new  member.  It  is 
obvious,  however,  that  students  will  not  travel  6,000  miles 
unless  in  the  hope  of  intellectual  advantage,  and  it  is  a 
tribute  to  the  reputation  of  Professor  Barton,  author  of 
Semitic  Origins,  that  the  attendance  should  have  reached 
its  maximum  during  the  year  of  his  directorship,  1902-3, 
although  Jerusalem  was  in  quarantine,  and  even  the  railway 
had  ceased  to  run. 

The  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  has  lately  been  unusually 
successful  in  its  operations,  and  by  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
Macalister,  its  representative  in  Palestine,  I  am  permitted 
to  bring  its  history  up  to  date  (cf.  chap.  xxii). 

"  The  mound  of  Tell  el  Gezer  (excavations  still  in  progress), 
has  proved  very  rich  in  remains  of  the  earliest  civilization 
of  Palestine.  A  neolithic  Troglodyte  race  has  for  the  first 
time  been  discovered,  and  burial  places  of  every  age,  from 
the  Amorite  to  the  Christian  period,  opened,  and  their 
contents  investigated.  The  largest  and  most  perfect 
Canaanite  High  place  has  been  found,  and  a  cuneiform 
tablet,  proving  the  existence  of  an  Assyrian  occupation, 
in  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  B.C." 

The  discussion,  by  other  archaeologists,  especially  those 
German  savants  personally  acquainted  with  this  country, 
of  Mr.  Macalister's  very  interesting  discoveries  and  con- 
clusions, will  be  eagerly  looked  for. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  important  question  of 
the  future  of  women  in  the  East  cannot  fail  to  be  gratified 
to  note  their  craving  for  education,  in  its  highest  sense. 
Although  in  the  Mission  School,  containing  forty-four 
Jewesses,  I  found  only  six  who  belonged  to  this  country 
—the  rest  being  mainly  Europeans — the  Evelina  de  Roth- 
schild School,  had  it  twice  its  accommodation,  would  be 

vii 


PREFACE 

more  than  crowded  in  a  week,  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
payment  is  required  for  every  child.  It  is  under  English 
Government  inspection,  and  can  receive,  at  present,  but 
610  girls,  including  the  kindergarten  and  technical  classes. 
On  the  opening  day  of  term,  I  have  seen  the  surrounding 
roads  so  crowded  with  clamorous  parents  that  the  police 
had  to  interfere.  When  the  gates  were  locked,  fathers 
dropped  their  daughters  over  the  wall ;  and  children,  on 
one  occasion  to  the  number  of  fifty — have  been  smuggled 
in  by  their  companions.  Not  only  a  better  preparation 
for  home-life  is  secured  by  the  learning  of  cooking,  needle- 
work, cutting  out,  sanitation,  laundry  work  and  even 
gardening,  but  the  addition  of  other  interests  and  of  a 
higher  ideal  of  life,  tends  to  the  postponement  of  the  early 
marriages  which  are  the  degradation,  mental  and  physical, 
of  the  woman  of  the  East. 

Almost  as  much  may  be  said  of  the  350  girls  of  the  Moslem 
Public  school  under  the  admirable  training  of  the  American 
Colony ;  and  when  we  realize  that  the  Jewish  population  of 
Jerusalem  is  six  times  that  of  the  Moslem,  the  numbers  are 
relatively  even  more  surprising. 

Among  other  changes  it  should  be  recorded  that  Jerusalem 
has  been  enriched  by  a  Swedish  consulate,  and  that  German 
benevolence  has  founded  a  sorely  needed  Convalescent 
Home  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  first  of  the  kind  in  Pales- 
tine, where  the  sufferers  from  malarial  fever  especially,  may 
find  the  change  of  air,  which  is  so  essential  to  the  arrest  of 
their  malady  ;  also  that,  as  predicted  in  these  pages,  matri- 
mony, after  a  quarter  of  a  century's  hesitation,  has  entered 
the  American  Colony. 

The  crank  is  always  with  us,  and  has  been  lately  reinforced 
by  a  new  Mission  for  the  suppression,  on  Scriptural  authority, 
of  breakfast-eating ;  by  the  opening  of  a  Glory  Home 
alleged  to  be  educational,  and  the  erection  of  a  place  of 
worship  with  the  practical  view  of  casting  out  devils,  of 
whom  it  seems  that  a  legion  still  remains  in  the  Holy  City. 

viii 


PREFACE 

On  the  other  hand,  one  establishment  for  religious  teaching 
has — not  too  soon — been  broken  up  by  authority,  for  reasons 
of  morality  which  need  not  be  detailed,  while  the  head  of 
another  has  been  imprisoned  for  cruelty  to  children,  and 
is  awaiting  trial  for  the  death  of  his  own  son.  It  is  unfortu- 
nate for  our  prestige,  religious  and  political,  that  such 
institutions  should  have  been  established  by  English-speak- 
ing people  and  in  the  name  of  Protestant  religion,  and  the 
circumstance  may  make  it  somewhat  difficult  for  our  re- 
ligious teachers  to  reflect  upon  the  sanity  of  the  fakir  or 
the  morality  of  the  derweesh. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  record  that  the  Anglican  Bishop 
has  lately  imported  two  certificated  nurses  for  attendance 
upon  the  poor  in  their  own  homes,  who,  like  those  of  the 
French,  German,  Russian  and  Greek  Hospitals,  wear  a 
uniform  in  the  streets,  and  concern  themselves  only  with 
the  work  for  which  they  have  been  trained. 

For  help  in  understanding  the  people  of  the  land  to  which 
he  has  devoted  talent  and  learning  which  might  have  adorned 
a  wider  sphere,  I  am  indebted,  beyond  all  acknowledgment, 
to  the  Rev.  E.  Hanauer,  Chaplain  to  the  Mission  of  the 
London  Jews'  Society  ;  for  direction  in  study  of  the  Eastern 
Church  to  the  Rev.  Doctor  Dowling,  Canon  of  St.  George's 
Collegiate  Church,  and  of  the  Western  to  many  members 
of  the  Franciscan,  Assumptionist,  and  Dominican  Orders  ; 
for  ever-ready  kindness  to  H.B.M.  Consul,  Mr.  Dickson  ; 
and  to  many  Moslems,  Greeks,  and  Jews  for  help  in  practical 
inquiry.  If  I  have  been  able  to  give,  in  any  degree,  an 
accurate  picture  of  certain  features  of  Inner  Jerusalem  life 
not  described  elsewhere,  it  has  been  due  to  the  help  and 
courtesy  which  have  never  failed  me  among  those  of  all 
nationalities  and  of  every  creed." 

"  What,"  wrote  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  "  What  is  truth  ? 
said  jesting  Pilate." 

ix 


PREFACE 

No  one  who  has  lived  in  Jerusalem  need  wonder  that, 
being  a  local  magistrate,  resident  among  the  European 
element  of  the  population,  "  he  did  not  stay  for  an  answer." 

But  such  things  are,  after  all,  accidents,  and  not  essentials 
of  the  life  in  Jerusalem,  where  human  fallibility  is  easily 
forgotten  among  ever-present  testimony  to  eternal  Truth, 
and  lack  of  charity  where  the  very  stones  cry  out  reminder 
of  eternal  Love.  Hope,  too,  is  more  and  more  with  us 
and  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  has  been  kindled 
if  not  by  us,  yet  from  elsewhere.  In  their  institutions, 
their  philanthropy,  their  widening  sympathies,  their  craving 
for  education,  their  demand  for  literature,  Moslem,  Jew, 
and  native  Christian  (and  it  may  be,  even  some  of  us  who 
look  on  and  learn)  are  drawing  nearer  to  each  other  in  com- 
mon activity  in  the  service  of  man  and  in  common  worship 
of  the  One  God. 

A.    GOODRICH-FREER. 

HOTEL  FAST,  JERUSALEM, 
October,  1904. 


NOTE. — I  wish  to  disarm  criticism,  in  one  direction,  by  pointing  out 
that  several  chapters  of  Inner  Jerusalem,  though,  with  the  exception 
of  that  on  Domesticities  (reproduced  by  kind  permission  of  the 
Editors  of  Temple  Bar)  never  published,  were  originally  intended 
for  periodical  publication,  before  it  was  foreseen  that  they  would 
develop  into  the  proportions  of  a  volume.  This  accounts  for  the 
fact  of  the  occasional  repetition  of  an  explanation,  and  for  some 
apparent  inconsistency  in  spelling  ;  for  the  transliteration  of  Arabic, 
like  that  of  the  name  of  Weller,  is  according  to  the  taste  and  fancy, 
and  tends  to  follow  that  of  the  special  author  or  particular  language 
which  is  one's  unit  of  thought  for  the  moment. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

WHAT  IS   JERUSALEM   LIKE_? 

PAGE 

Books  of  Travel — Limitations  of  Nationality  and  Creed — The  Eng- 
lish— The  Germans — The  Americans — Society — Language — 
Trade — Medicine — Intellectual  Advantages — Physical  Aspect  1 

CHAPTER  II 

DOMESTICITIES   IN   JERUSALEM 

Experiences  of  the  Traveller — Eccentricities  of  the  Place — Com- 
mercial Aspect — Climate  andScirocco — Water  Supply — Vegeta- 
tion— Insect  Enemies — Flora — Anomalous  Customs — Coinage — 
— Economy  of  Living  .  .  .  .  .  .  .16 

CHAPTER  HI 

"  CRANKS  "    IN   JERUSALEM 

Individual  Eccentricities — Spittler  of  Basel — The  Millerites — 
Amen-ites — Church  of  the  Messiah — Awaiting  the  Anti-Christ 
— The  Overcomers  ........  35 

CHAPTER  IV 

GOVERNMENT  IN  JERUSALEM 

Advantages  of  Turkish  Rule — Position  of  Europeans —  Machinery 
of  Government — Turkish  Law — Moslems — Jews — Sanitation — 
Prisons  .....  ......  47 

CHAPTER  V 

JEWS   IN   JERUSALEM 

Population — Distribution — Racial  Divisions — Distinctive  Character- 
istics—  Irrational  Almsgiving —  Schools —  Occupations —  Old 
Customs  still  Extant — Sophistries  and  Quibbles — Alliance 
Israelite — Its  Excellent  Work — Mission  Work  and  Results — 
Views  of  Zangwill — Charitable  Institutions,  English  and  Jew- 
ish— Abraham's  Vineyard — Relations  with  Jerusalem — Pro- 
gress of  Re-Patriation  .  .  ;  .  .  .  .  .55 

CHAPTER  VI 

RUSSIA   IN    JERUSALEM 

"The  Russian  Tower" — Religious  Buildings — Relations  between 
Greek  and  Russian  Churches —  Population  —  Pilgrimages — 
"Imperial  Orthodox  Society" — Means  of  Education — Greek 

xi 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Patriarchate — Russian   Dissent — Archimandrite  — Consulate  — 

Acquisition  of  Territory — Ambassador — Influence  on  the  West 

— Jealousies   and   Disputes  .          .          .          .          .          .          .75 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE   GREEKS   IN   JERUSALEM 

The  Greek  Church — Its  Antiquity — Its  Authority — Latin  Patriarchs 
in  Jerusalem,  1204-1260 — End  of  the  Eastern  Empire— The 
Eastern  Church —  Its  Government —  Education  of  Clergy — 
Charitable  and  Philanthropic  Undertakings — Convents — The 
Greek  Fire — Misunderstanding  and  Exaggeration — Early  His- 
tory—As it  was  in  1902— In  1820 98 

CHAPTER  VIII 

HERESIES   AND   SCHISMS   IN   THE   EASTERN   CHURCH 

Various  Churches  in  Jerusalem — The  Armenians,  Syrians,  Abys- 
sinians,  Copts — Possibilities  of  Anglican  Re-union — Attempts 
already  made — Points  of  Sympathy — Chapel  of  Abraham — 
Common  Beliefs — Characteristics  of  the  Eastern  Church — Its 
Austerity,  in  Fasts,  in  Art,  in  Architecture — St.  George  .  .  115 

CHAPTER  IX 

LATINS  IN   JERUSALEM 

Palestine  in  Roman  Times — Early  Pilgrims — First  Monasteries — 
First  Latin  Convent — Beginning  of  Rivalry — Papal  Address — 
Vicissitudes — Settlement  in  Jerusalem — Hospital — Knights 
Hospitallers — Latin  Establishment  in  the  Eleventh  Century — 
Origin  of  Enmity  between  East  and  West  Churches — Francis- 
cans— Custodianship — Hospitality  and  Philanthropy  .  .  131 

CHAPTER  X 

THE    LATINS    IN    JERUSALEM    TO-DAY 

Revival  of  Patriarchate — Advent  of  Religious  Orders — Their  In- 
dustries— Dominican  Lectures — "Revue  Biblique  " — Pilgrim- 
ages— Educational  Advantages — Uniats — Visible  "  Communion 
of  Saints."  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .154 

CHAPTER  XI 

MARTYRDOM    IN    JERUSALEM 

Significance  of  Apparently  Unimportant  Details — Mutual  Relation 
of  Greeks  and  Latins — Greek  Promises — The  Pasha's  Decision 
— Next  Morning's  Incidents — The  Pasha  and  the  French  Re- 

xii 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

preservative — Events  of  November  4 — Public  Feeling — "  Ab 
solute  Reparation  " — Sentences — Episodes — History  Repeats 
itself 167 

CHAPTER    XII 

ENGLAND    IN   JERUSALEM 

Early  Associations — Crusades — Trade — Anglo -Prussian  Bishopric — 
Protestant  Influence — Lack  of  English  Enterprise  and  Philan- 
thropy— English  Bishopric  Established  ...  .  .  180 

CHAPTER    XIII 

ENGLISH   CHURCH   IN   JERUSALEM 

Anglican  Bishopric — Its  Difficulties — Missionary  Societies — Prosely- 
tism  Condemned — Education — Need  of  English  Philan- 
thropy— Christ  Church — Statistics — Medical  Work — Remarks 
on  Missionaries — Absence  of  English  Hospitality — Remarks  by 
Lady  Burton 193 

CHAPTER  XIV 

ENGLISH  TRADE  AND  ENGLISH  TRAVEL 

Commercial  Relations  of  England  and  Syria — Jerusalem  Water- 
works—The Arab  of  the  East — What  he  Thinks  of  the  West — 
The  Traveller,  American  and  English ;  according  to  Lady 
Burton  ;  to  Canon  Dalton ;  to  Mark  Twain  ;  to  Clermont  Gan- 
neau — The  Dragoman — The  Soldier  and  Policeman  ;;  .  .  209 

CHAPTER  XV 

THE   MOSLEM   IN   JERUSALEM 

The  Sachra — Traditions — Dome  of  the  Rock — Omar — His  Mosque 

— His  Magnanimity — Saladin — Palestine  and  the  Arab    .          .     221 

CHAPTER    XVI 

THE   MOSLEM  AS   A   CITIZEN 

Arab  Influence  on  Europe — Aestheticism — Cursing — Acuteness — 
Literature — Dress — Aristocracy — Forms  of  Prayer — Tenets  of 
the  Faith — Philanthropy — Institutions — Hospital  and  Sisters 
— Tradition — Pilgrimage  to  Tomb  of  Moses.  .  .  .  232 

CHAPTER    XVII 

THE   MOSLEM   IN   HIS   RELATION   TO   WOMEN 

Marriage  Customs — Types  of  Womanhood — Dress — Physique — Do- 
mestic Education — Debate  on  Women's  Rights — An  Evening 

xiii 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Party — Household  Occupations — Needlework — Children  — Vul- 
garity— A    Moslem    Establishment — The    "  Sabeel  "        .          .     251 

CHAPTER    XVIII 

THE    MOSLEM   FAITH    IN    JERUSALEM 

The  Spirit  of  the  East — The  Influence  of  Islam — The  Career  of  Mo- 
hammed— His  Relation  to  Jew  and  Christian — -Religion  among 
Women — Observance  of  Religious  Duties — The  Lower  Ani- 
mals   266 

CHAPTER   XIX 

THE  MOSLEM  IN  THE  HOLY  PLACES 

Mosques — Sacred  Sites  of  Common  Interest — Mosque  at  Hebron — 
Posted  Prayers — Mukrams — Mukaddasi — His  Description  of 
Palestine — Moslem  Devotion  in  the  Holy  Land.  .  .  .291 

[CHAPTER  XX 

THE    MOSLEM   WOMAN   IN    JERUSALEM 

Amusements  —  Theatre — Shopping — Wedding     Bath  — Reception — 

El    Gelweh 301 

CHAPTER    XXI 

CHRISTIAN   WOMEN    IN    JERUSALEM 

Training — Occupations — Comparisons  between  Moslem  and  Christian 
.-    Women — Christians    of    the    Working    Class — Manners — Hos- 
pitality— Notable  women — Benefactresses       ....     323 

CHAPTER    XXII 

BIRD    AND    BEAST   IN    JERUSALEM 

Alleged  Cruelty  in  Jerusalem — The  Camel,  Cat,  Dog,  Horse,  Ass,  Wild 
Animals — The  Gazelle,*  Jerboa,    Hyena,    Jackal,    Coney — Mar 
Saba — Sport — The  Partridge,   Hare,  Fox — Wild  Birds — In  the    " 
Temple  Courts — Storks,  Sparrow,  Swallow — The  Lizards  .          .      336 

CHAPTER    XXIII 

THE    HUMANITIES   IN    JERUSALEM 

Conventional     Writing — Poetry — Art — Literature     and     Science — 
Education — Royal    Visitors — Sir    Moses    Montefiore — Consular 
Flags — Jewish     Intercession — English   Visitors — The  P.E.F. — 
German    Exploration — Holy  Places — Modern  Buildings — Edu- 
cational Errors — Examination  Papers.   ...          .          .          .351 

xiv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

1.  Frontispiece.           .........  17 

2.  A  General  View  of  Jerusalem         .          .          .          .          .          .14 

3.  Lydda,  the  home  of  Dorcas            ...'...  10 

4.  Olive  Harvest  (Gethsemane)            ......  28 

5.  In  the  Prison  Courtyard        .......  54 

6.  Aged  Jews 60 

7.  Olive  oil  presses             ........  70 

8.  The  Mount  of  Olives  and  the  Russian  Tower          ...  76 

9.  "  He  shall  lead  His  flock "  .          .          ...          .80 

10.  The  Damascus  Gate 96 

11.  View  of  the  Temple  Area  looking  North         .          .          .          .130 

12.  View  of  the  Temple  Area  looking  South         .          .          .          .  152 

13.  Mosque  of  El  Aksa 180 

14.  In  the  Temple  Precincts 192 

1.").  House  and  tomb  of  Samuel            ......  208 

10.  Irrigation  wheel               ........  210 

17.  Via  Dolorosa         .........  216 

18.  El  Aksa,  "the  further  Mosque" 220 

19.  Absalom's  Pillar 234 

20.  Village  Sheiks 239 

21.  The  Muezzin 240 

•22.  Bethlehem  Bride 254 

23.  The  Cafe  of  the  town 284 

•24.  Moslem  Women              v 308 

XV 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING    PAGE 

25.  Salt  Hills  and  Jordan  .          ...          .          .          .     344 

26.  The  River  Jordan          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .     346 

J7.     Garden  of  Gethsemane  .......     354 

28.  An  Askkeiiazim  Jew  .......     302 

29.  A  Bedawi  Camp  370 

30.  Bedawi  man  and  woman      .......     374 

31.  Threshing  floor .376 

32.  "  Good  measure "  .  37& 


xvi 


CHAPTER  I 
WHAT    IS    JERUSALEM    LIKE? 

BOOKS   OF   TRAVEL — LIMITATIONS   OF   NATIONALITY   AND 
CREED — THE  ENGLISH — THE  GERMANS — THE  AMERICANS 
—  SOCIETY — LANGUAGE — TRADE — MEDICINE — INTELLEC- 
TUAL ADVANTAGES — PHYSICAL  ASPECT 

IF  you  are  going  to  give  us  a  book  about  Jerusalem," 
said    a    friendly  publisher  before  we  left  England, 
"  do  tell  people  what  they  want  to  know.     Never  mind 
where  Absalom's  Tomb  isn't !  " 

"  What  is  Jerusalem  like  ?  "  is  what  friends  say  in  their 
letters.  "  Of  course  we  have  read  books  of  description  and 
archaeology ;  but  What  do  you  do  ?  How  do  you  dress  ? 
What  language  do  you  talk  ?  What  do  you  eat  ?  What  sort 
of  people  do  you  meet  ?  How  do  they  entertain  ?  Is  it 
healthy  ?  Would  it  be  a  nice  place  to  take  the  children  to  ? 
Is  there  any  shooting  ?  Is  there  a  good  doctor  ?  Are  there 
any  educational  advantages  ?  Is  there  a  decent  hotel  ?  Is 
it  pretty  country  ?  What  is  there  to  do  besides  going  to 
Holy  Places  and  to  church  ?  " 

Such  are  some  of  the  questions  which  I  hope  to  answer 
in  the  following  pages,  as  well  as  some  others  which  we  have 
ourselves  been  compelled  to  ask  since  coming  into  the 
country  two  years  ago,  and  which,  in  some  cases,  have  not 
been  very  readily  answered.  Those  points  which  were 
easily  ascertained,  especially  those  of  the  Absalom's  Tomb 
variety,  I  have  ignored,  not  because  we  were  indifferent 
upon  such  matters — indifference  here  would  be  brutal  and 
unintelligent — but  because  they  are  already  abundantly 

1  B 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

dealt  with,  and  are  being  dealt  with  further,  at  (so  it  has 
been  calculated)  the  rate  of  seven  books  a  year,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Explora- 
tion Fund,  the  Revue  Biblique,  the  American  Journal  of 
Archaeology,  a  Russian  journal  admirably  illustrated,  but 
of  name  untranscribable,  the  Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Palae- 
stina-Vereins,  and,  probably,  many  other  publications  in 
half  a  score  of  languages. 

Of  description,  also,  we  have  abundance,  especially  in 
English,  and  the  supply  is  perpetually  renewed.  We  have 
Three  Weeks  in  Judaea,  Snapshots  in  Galilee,  Discourses  with 
Dragomans,  Chats  with  Consuls,  Causeries  with  Cook,  Lectures 
with  Lunn,  and  Pilgrimages  with  Perowne. 

What  is  more,  the  memory  of  many  a  weary  Sunday 
afternoon  spent  in  the  enforced  society  of  works  not  less 
accurate  in  observation  nor  learned  in  research,  provokes 
the  reflection  that  there  are  persons,  ignorant  and  indifferent, 
who  are  but  imperfectly  responsive  to  discussion  upon  points 
remote  from  their  experience,  and  description  of  places  of 
which  they  never  heard  before.  We  recall  unregenerate 
days  when  we  hated  Biblical  Researches,  were  bored  by 
The  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  fled  from  The  Land  and  the 
Book,  and  looked  upon  The  Wars  of  the  Jews  as  a  special 
cruelty  devised  for  the  torment  of  young  Christians  who 
lived  two  miles  from  church,  beside  a  road  inches  deep  in 
mud  on  wet  Sundays.  Here  and  now,  we  are  thankful  if 
we  may  touch  the  skirts  of  the  garments  of  Robinson  and 
Burton,  Burckhardt  and  Josephus  ;  we  put  George  Adam 
Smith  under  our  pillows,  and  read  Post  and  Tristram  at 
meals  ;  but  that  is  because  we  have  learnt  to  know  and  love 
the  Holy  Land  ;  to  find  in  her  the  heart  of  Christendom  ; 
the  parent  of  history,  the  springs  of  human  life,  at  once 
the  grave  and  resurrection-place  of  hope.  She  calls  to  us 
with  voices  that  are  more  imperious  than  that  of  the  East, 
as  such  ;  with  that  of  the  past,  for  she  has  been  the  battle- 
field of  all  nations  ;  of  the  present,  for  she  is  the  common 

2 


WHAT   IS   JERUSALEM   LIKE 

centre  of  all  religions  ;  of  the  future,  for  to  her,  the  meeting- 
place  of  East  and  West,  of  all  Monotheistic  creeds,  we  look 
for  that  re-union,  which  shall  make  Catholicism  inclusive 
as  its  name,  and  Christendom  something  more  vital  than 
a  geographical  distinction. 

Even  in  Jerusalem  one  cannot  be  always  gazing  at  great 
landscapes.  They  are,  as  Hannah  More  says,  "  seen  through 
small  openings,"  and  one's  cosmic  emotions  are  born  out  of 
an  aggregate  of  circumstances  here,  as  elsewhere,  small. 
In  Jerusalem,  you  can  easily  lead  that  simplified  existence 
for  which  doctors  and  thinkers  alike  are  pleading.  You 
could  not  eat  half  a  crown's  worth  of  food  in  a  day  if  you 
tried  ;  you  can  get  a  lunch  as  good,  so  far  as  "  good  " 
means  well  cooked,  wholesome,  and  satisfying,  for  a  franc 
and  a  half,  as  at  home  for  three  and  sixpence  ;  your  clothes, 
like  those  of  the  Israelites,  wax  not  old,  and  when  they  do 
it  won't  matter  ;  you  are  not  troubled  by  social  competi- 
tions, for  nobody  keeps  a  carriage  or  entertains  to  the  extent 
of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  Bishops  and  consuls  have  what 
look  like  servants  in  livery,  but  they  are  really  a  kind  of 
policeman  whom  the  Government  obliges  them  to  maintain. 

There  are,  if  you  are  English-speaking,  no  social  distinc- 
tions. You  soon  get  accustomed  to  meeting  in  the  draw- 
ing-rooms of  your  friends  with  persons  whom  you  would  by 
nature  have  rather  expected  to  find  elsewhere,  and  you  learn 
that  those  who  are  excluded,  are  not  the  ill-mannered  or 
uneducated,  but  those  who  speak  in  foreign  tongues,  or 
still  worse,  who  say  their  prayers  in  Greek  or  Latin. 

There  are  not,  of  course,  wanting  persons  of  wider  views, 
but  they  are  few  and  have  sufficient  tact  to  refrain  from 
amalgamating  groups  the  separation  of  which  nature  so 
clearly  indicated  at  the  Tower  of  Babel  and  in  the  Blessed 
Reformation.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  meet  upon  the 
broad  basis  of  a  tennis  club,  which  once  a  week  had  tea, 
but  as  no  one  discovered  that  tennis,  as  a  society  amuse- 
ment, was  in  England  past  its  prime,  it  was  regarded  as 

3 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

worldly  and  died  a  natural  death,  only  to  be  resuscitated,  by 
invitation,  on  the  neutral  ground  of  Judaism  (reformed). 
Here  one  might  meet  with  half  a  score  of  nationalities,  en- 
joy good  music,  and,  if  so  inclined,  play  Bridge,  or  even, 
upon  occasion,  dance  ;  from  which  it  may  be  deduced  that 
foreigners  are  frivolous,  and  that  English,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, is  little  spoken  unless  with  the  muscular 
relaxation  of  the  Levantine. 

If  your  tastes  incline  to  learning  and  archaeology,  you  have 
again,  for  the  most  part,  to  subject  yourself  to  the  perils 
of  foreign  tongues  and  other  creeds  ;  to  the  Germans,  who 
may  be  Lutherans  but  are  often  Catholic,  to  the  Italians 
of  the  Patriarchal  or  Franciscan  Clergy,  to  the  French  of  the 
Dominican  or  the  Assumptionist  orders.  England  is  repre- 
sented by  a  solitary  savant  from  the  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,  but  America  has  a  School  of  Archaeology,  opened  in 
1900,  which  receives,  irrespective  of  religion,  nationality, 
or  sex,  all  students  who  are  graduates  of  a  university  of 
recognized  standing.  It  has  no  local  habitation,  and  only 
one  professor,  annually  renewed,  and,  however  learned, 
as  new  as  are  his  pupils  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  students 
have  gradually  risen  in  number  till  there  were  once  five. 
The  English  Missionary  Societies,  who  have  been  longer 
in  Palestine  than  any  Europeans  except  the  Franciscan 
friars,  are  entirely  indifferent  to  such  interests,  although,  to 
one  of  their  clergy — the  Rev.  Edward  Hanauer,  Jerusalem 
born — archaeology  is  indebted  in  a  degree  of  which  the  pub- 
lic, especially  in  Jerusalem,  knows  little,  his  learning  hav- 
ing been  given  to  the  world  mainly  over  the  signatures  of 
those  who  have  profited  by  his  conversation. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  English  point  of  view  as  to 
the  division  of  the  world  of  Jerusalem  into  English  and 
foreigners,  might  be  conceivably  modified  by  the  fact  that 
certain  foreigners  are  Protestants.1  Unfortunately,  however, 

1  "  Protestant  "  is,  in  Turkey,  the  official  name  for  all  beliefs 
collectively  which  are  not  Moslem,  Jewish,  Latin  or  Greek.  There 

4 


WHAT    IS    JERUSALEM    LIKE 

for  the  cause  of  social  unity,  they  are  also  Germans  ;  and 
although  we  have  prospered  at  home  for  a  couple  of  centuries 
under  a  German  dynasty,  we  are  here  unable  to  hold  out  the 
hand  of  fellowship  to  those  who  own  the  hospital  which 
nurses  the  English  sick,  and  the  post  which  for  the  most  part 
conveys  the  English  letters,  to  whom,  moreover,  we  owe 
most  of  the  shops  which  purvey  our  European  comforts 
and  conveniences. 

The  visit  of  the  German  Emperor  in  1898  is  still  marked 
with  a  white  stone  in  the  history  of  Jerusalem.  Roads  were 
made,  gates  were  opened,  the  town  was  even  cleaned  in  his 
honour,  and  he  showed  his  warm  appreciation  of  the  wel- 
come, general,  and  well  deserved,  by  the  truly  cosmopolitan 
and  Catholic  spirit  in  which  he  presented  to  his  subjects,  in 
the  Holy  City,  two  sites,  one  for  the  erection  of  a  Lutheran, 
the  other  of  a  Latin  Church.  Trade,  agriculture  and  com- 
merce in  Jerusalem  are  never  more  flourishing  than  in  the 
hands  of  Germans.  The  suburb  known  as  the  German 
colony  is  an  admirable  example  of  cleanliness  and  order. 
It  is,  to  all  practical  purposes,  a  picturesque  German  village, 
having  its  own  church,  public  hall,  band,  drill-hall,  schools, 
farm,  gardens,  and  of  course  Bier  Halle.  Three  immense 
orphanages,  a  large  general  hospital  and  a  children's  hospi- 
tal, maintained  by  the  Germans,  are  the  only  Protestant 
institutions  of  the  kind  upon  any  scale  of  magnitude  in 
Jerusalem. 

There  are,  moreover,  three  or  four  groups  of  Americans 
with  whom,  with  the  exception  of  certain  Quakers  at 
Ramallah,  it  is  equally  impossible  for  the  English  to  associate ; 
and  this  is  again  another  privilege  reserved  for  the  foreigners, 
who  have  not  been  slow  to  discover  that  for  baking,  con- 
fectionery, dressmaking,  art-needlework,  various  decorative 
handicrafts,  photography,  carpentry,  for  lessons  in  various 
subjects,  including  painting  and  concerted  music,  as  well  as 

one  speaks  always  of  the  "  Latin,"  not  of  the  "  Roman  Catholic  " 
Church. 

5 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

for  much  general  benevolence  and  philanthropy,  the  Ameri- 
can colonists,  although  doubtless  unorthodox  in  religious 
opinions,  are  without  equal  in  Jerusalem. 

Lady  Burton,  writing  at  the  time  when  Sir  Richard,  then 
Mr.  Burton,  was  consul  at  Damascus,  could  not  refrain  from 
quoting  from  an  inquiring  lady  in  one  of  Trollope's  novels  : 
"  Isn't  a  consul  a  horrid  creature  that  lives  in  a  seaport,  and 
worries  merchant  seamen  and  imprisons  people  who  have  no 
passports  ?  He  isn't  a  creature  one  knows.  They  are  im- 
possible, dear,  impossible." 

On  the  contrary,  in  Jerusalem,  consuls  are  Society,  not 
in  Society,  but  with  the  addition  of  the  doctors,  clergy,  and 
a  banker  or  two,  and  some  two  or  three  persons  not  easily 
classified,  they  are  Society.1  The  Greek,  and  still  more  the 
Latin  clergy,  largely  well  bred  and  scholarly  gentlemen, 
whose  acquaintance  is  a  privilege,  are  above  or  below  it,  ac- 
cording to  the  point  of  view,  but  any  way  outside  it,  and  the 
rest  of  the  European  population  are  missionaries  and  Levan- 
tines. The  consuls  worry  about  passports  only  in  so  far 
as  it  is  their  business,  by  providing  them,  to  save  one  from 
being  worried  by  the  Turkish  and  other  governments,  and 
they  are  popularly  supposed  to  call  up  gunboats  when  pashas 
are  not  amenable. 

The  consuls  of  Russia,  France  and  Germany 2  have  a 
large  and  efficient  suite  3  of  their  respective  nationalities  ; 

1  Lady   Strangford,   than  whom   none   should   better   know   the 
social  life  of  Oriental  towns,  speaks  of  "  the  enormous  power  (of 
consuls)  in  a  quiet  way,  for  improving  or  disimproving  the  people  in 
whose  country  they  are  placed." 

2  The  consuls  of  France,  Italy,  Russia  and  Austria  take    prece- 
dence of  all  others  as  consuls-general. 

3  "  The  French  cancelliere  is  duly  educated  for  his  profession  in 
jurisprudence  and  notarial  functions,  which  he  enters  by  a  competi- 
tive examination,  and  acts  as  notary  and  keeper  of  the  archives. 
In  the  Levant  he  is  always  a  young  man  of  ability  and  practice." 
(Finn,  Stirring  Times,  ii.  379). 

This  is  equally  true  of  the  employes  of  some  other  continental 
Consulates. 

6 


WHAT    IS    JERUSALEM    LIKE 

but  it  is  characteristic  of  the  fashion  in  which  England 
commends  herself  to  the  respect  of  this  country  that  the 
English  consul,  with  some  200  1  persons  in  his  jurisdiction, 
has  not  a  single  English  subordinate,  so  that  the  interests 
of  England  in  Jerusalem  are  largely  in  the  hands  of  Arabs  ; 2 
and  the  consular  agent  at  Jaffa,  the  port  of  Jerusalem  and 
gate  of  Palestine,  was  till  lately  a  Jew,  unsalaried,  who 
could  barely  speak  English. 

The  American  consuls  seem  to  be  chosen  from  among  re- 
tired ministers  of  religion  (non-episcopal),  and  although  they 
represent  a  country  which  contributes  an  immense  number 
of  visitors  to  the  Holy  Land,  are  alone  among  officials  in 
Jerusalem  in  being  without  any  Consular  residence. 

France,  Italy,  Russia  and  Greece  are  largely  occupied  in 
rivalry  as  to  front  places  in  then*  respective  Church  cere- 
monials ;  the  betting,  to  put  it  profanely,  being  upon  France 
in  the  one  case,  and  Russia  in  the  other.  Spain,  presumably, 
is  also  required  to  figure  in  religious  duties,  and  Germany 
and  Austria  are  much  concerned  in  friendly  rivalry  of  postal 
service,  to  the  great  advantage  of  European  residents.  Hol- 
land apparently  has  an  existence ;  for  she  hangs  out  a  red, 
white  and  blue  flag  on  Sundays.  Hanging  out  flags  on 
Sundays  and  saints'  days  is  an  important  consular  duty, 
which  is  perhaps  the  reason  why  Holland  is  but  little  in  evi- 
dence ;  as,  apparently,  the  reformed  religion  does  not  con- 
cern itself  with  saints.  It  is  generally  either  a  Greek,  or  a 
Latin  and  Anglican,  saint's  day,  so  that  we  are  seldom  desti- 
tute of  flags  ;  and  one  is  disposed  to  wonder  whether  the 
Hollandisches  Consulat  feels  at  all  "  out  of  it."  Her  repre- 
sentative, however,  lives  in  sight  of  two  windmills,  and 

1  The  number  of  British  subjects  and  protected  persons  registered 
in  the  British  Consulate  during  1902  was  155.     This  includes  heads 
of  families  and  single  persons  only,  and  is  exclusive  of  wives  and 
of  children  under  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

2  A  question  was  asked  on  this  point  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
on  Nov.   11,  1902.     It  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to  some  arrange- 
ment more  becoming  to  our  dignity  as  a  nation. 

7 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

though  long  disused  they  may  serve  to  make  him  feel  at 
home  in  the  absence  of  cleanliness  and  canals. 

A  consul,  patriarch,  or  other  person  of  distinction,  does 
not  appear  in  public  without  his  attendant  cawass,  a  native 
servant,  who,  when  entering  a  church  or  other  public  place, 
serves  as  beadle,  and  bangs  on  the  ground  with  a  silver-headed 
stick  to  clear  the  way.  This  is  not,  as  the  critical  tourist  is 
apt  to  call  it,  mere  "  swagger  "  ;  for  the  dignitary  in  ques- 
tion is  merely  fulfilling  his  part  of  the  bargain  under  which 
the  Turkish  Government  makes  itself  responsible  for  his 
safety,  his  contribution  to  the  position  being,  naturally, 
that  he  should  not  go  about  without  a  licensed  attendant 
sufficiently  armed.  Each  official  provides  these  servants 
with  suitable  uniform,  often  very  picturesque.  As  they  are 
generally  soldiers,  or  potential  soldiers  of  the  Turkish  army,  it 
follows  that  they  are  Moslems,  which,  as  a  rule,  means  that 
they  are  good  and  faithful  servants,  and  also  that  there  will 
be  no  religious  complications  ;  for  to  convert  a  Moham- 
medan is  practically  an  impossibility.  Probably  also  there 
may  be  other  points  involved  in  the  presence  of  the  cawass, 
whose  existence  ensures  that  an  official  cannot  receive  or  pay 
a  visit  without  the  cognizance  of  a  potential  spy,  who  is  also 
for  the  most  part  instructed  in  what  goes  on  in  his  master's 
house  and  among  his  household.  He  is  certainly  a  pictur- 
esque accessory  ;  the  heavy  stick,  curly  sword,  and  hanging 
sleeves  are  common  to  cawasses  of  all  nationalities,  the 
tarbush 1  to  most.  The  Montenegrins  who  serve  the  immense 
Russian  hospices  are  perhaps  the  most  ornamental,  with 
their  closely  fitting  white  cloth  costumes,  blue  vests  and  red 
sashes.  The  Russian  consular  cawasses  are  mysterious  as 
to  their  nether  garments,  which  begin  as  petticoats  gathered 
into  a  band,  continue  in  fashion  more  or  less  normal,  and 
end  up,  apparently,  as  stockings.  The  English,  French,  and 
Italians  have  a  general  resemblance  to  each  other,  but  are  all 

1  Better  known  to  English  as  the  "  Turkish  cap  "  or  "  fez,"  which 
a  sumptuary  law  imposes  upon  all  Turkish  subjects. 

8 


WHAT    IS    JERUSALEM    LIKE 

alike  imposing,  with  braided  jackets,  wide  trousers,  and  a 
general  effect  of  blue  and  silver. 

As  may  be  gathered,  social  life  in  Jerusalem  is  convenient 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  languages  in  which  one  can 
have  intercourse  with  one's  fellow-creatures  ;  and  perhaps 
a  difficulty  in  acquiring  foreign  tongues  may  be  a  contribu- 
tory cause  of  English  exclusiveness.  Almost  all  foreigners 
can  speak  two  or  three  languages,  and  most  Arabs  half  a 
dozen.  The  Jews,  who  compose  more  than  two-thirds  of  the 
population  of  Jerusalem,  can  speak,  the  rising  generation  at 
least,  French,  German,  or  English,  according  as  they  have 
been  educated  by  the  Alliance  Israelite,  the  Lamel,  or  the 
Anglo- Jewish  Schools.  Almost  anybody  in  Jerusalem  can 
say  "  all  right"  when  your  own  conversation  flags,  and  if  they 
have  been  educated  in  the  English  schools  they  will  say 
"  Not  at  all  "  when  you  say  "  Thank  you  "  ;  for  as  the  Arabic 
language  contains  no  equivalent  of  "  thank  you  "  or  "if 
you  please,"  they  appear  to  think  that  a  repartee  is  required, 
and  this  is  the  hereditary  phrase  with  which  some  missionary 
of  former  times  has  endowed  them.  To  say  "  all  right  "  and 
"  very  well,"  and  to  shake  hands  perpetually,  is  the  Arab 
conception  of  English  manners,  and  to  pay  you  extravagant 
compliments  (if  he  has  anything  to  sell),  his  notion  of  French 
politeness. 

Shops,  in  Jerusalem,  are  kept  by  almost  every  nationality 
except  English  ;  but  Germans,  Greeks,  and  Jews  predomi- 
nate. French  and  Italian,  or  French  and  German,  will  carry 
you  anywhere,  and  you  soon  pick  up  enough  Arabic  for  the 
expression  of  your  wants,  especially  if  you  don't  take  lessons. 
With  tafadal  and  a  gesture,  you  can  make  almost  any  request, 
with  imshi  you  can  say  "  Go  away,"  with  la  in  varied  in- 
tonations you  can  dissent,  and  with  aiwa  you  can  agree, 
though  it  is  an  expression  discouraged  by  the  missionaries, 
as  having  some  remote  connexion  with  "  Allah  "  ;  ivallah, 
with  which  it  is  etymologically  associated,  meaning  literally 
"  by  God."  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  keep  your  conversa- 

9 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

tion  clear  of  religious  phrases.  You  do  not  say  "  Good 
morning,"  but "  May  your  day  be  blessed  "  ;  for  "  thank  you  " 
you  substitute  "  May  (God)  increase  your  goods."  If  asked 
how  you  are,  you  say,  "  As  God  wills  "  ;  and  if  asked  your 
opinion,  intention,  object,  or  desire  (if  you  have  entered  into 
the  secretive  spirit  of  the  East),  you  will  reply,  "  Do  I  know  ? 
God  knows." 

You  can  practise  an  Arabic  accent  by  repeating  the  word 
"  umbrella  "  with  separate  emphasis  on  both  1's,  and  "  Rachel 
Ramsay,"  like  a  German  with  a  tendency  to  say  w  for  r. 
But  it  is  a  magnificent  language,  and  gains  on  one's  respect 
with  increased  acquaintance.  An  intelligent  Syrian  school- 
master told  us  that  he  would  rather  be  examined  in  English 
grammar  than  that  of  his  own  speech,  and  my  own  teacher, 
by  way  of  encouragement,  assured  me  that  a  Moslem 
grammarian  had  reduced  the  rules  to  one  thousand,  though 
a  Christian  had  subsequently  increased  the  number  to  fifteen 
hundred.  We  have,  in  English,  a  score  or  two  of  Arabic 
words,  which  is  quite  a  nice  little  collection  to  begin  with, 
and  some  of  them,  such  as  "  admiral,  artichoke,  algebra, 
talisman  and  shawl,"  are  quite  useful,  and  it  would  not 
be  impossible  to  devise  phrases  which  should  introduce 
"  nadir,  elixir,  amulet,  and  lute." 

The  inhabitant  of  Jerusalem  can  be  doctored  in  half  a 
dozen  languages,  and  there  is  a  German  physician  who 
specializes  in  oriental  diseases,  and  has  especial  facilities, 
in  certain  directions,  in  the  admirable  leper  hospital  main- 
tained by  the  Moravians,  the  only  institution  of  the  kind  in 
Jerusalem,  if  we  except  the  work,  under  the  protection  of 
the  Turkish  Government,  of  the  French  Sisters  of  Charity — 
at  present,  in  this  branch  of  benevolence,  very  inadequately 
housed. 

Of  the  work  of  the  English  Eye  Hospital  I  shall  have  more 
to  say,  but  even  in  passing  can  mention  it  only  with  very 
especial  respect,  and  with  satisfaction  that  there  should  be 
one  direction  in  which  our  country  has,  in  Syria,  surpassed 

10 


WHAT    IS    JERUSALEM    LIKE 

all  others,   although  others  are  also   doing   similar   good 
work  on  a  smaller  scale. 

We  English  have  no  newspapers,  and  no  club,  and  no 
music,  and  not  even  any  musical  instrument  worthy  of 
mention.  A  mechanical  contrivance  destitute  of  semitones 
which  played  popular  hymn  tunes  from  the  tower  of  the 
church  connected  with  the  London  Mission  to  the  Jews, 
has  been  lately  silenced.  There  are  pianos,  and  church 
organs,  and  a  choral  society,  but  for  music  one  of  necessity 
has  recourse,  as  for  much  else,  to  the  Germans  and 
the  Russians,  and  to  the  churches  of  the  Latins.  A 
library,  mainly  of  theology,  has  been  established  in  con- 
nexion with  St.  George's  (Anglican)  Collegiate  Church,  and 
about  a  hundred  books,  by  no  means  up  to  date,  in  addition 
to  their  own  journal  up  to  1896,  represent  the  library  of  the 
Jerusalem  Association  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  ; 1 
but  for  the  specialist  literature  of  the  Holy  Land  one  must 
once  more  seek  the  hospitality  of  the  Germans  or  of  the  Latin 
Orders  :  the  Dominicans,  Assumptionists,  or  of  the  White 
Fathers  at  St.  Anne's,  who  possess,  moreover,  the  only 
museums  of  general  utility ;  though  at  other  convents,  and 
even  among  the  Greeks  and  Armenians,  there  are  collections 
of  value  and  interest.  One  cannot  but  regret  that  the  P.E.F. 
should  not  have  added  to  much  good  work  accomplished 
in  Jerusalem  that  of  a  small  museum  and  library  which 
should  stimulate  the  student,  and  compete,  however  humbly, 
with  other  nationalities.  The  Dominicans  and  Germans  are 
alone  in  Jerusalem  in  offering  antiquarian  and  archaeolo- 
gical instruction  to  the  general  public. 

It  is  much,  however,  that  intellectual  advantages  are  to 
be  had,  although  our  own  country  is  behind  all  others 
in  supplying  them, — that  museums,  libraries,  antiquarian 
lectures,  cultivated  and  learned  society,  scientific  research, 
the  enthusiasm  of  humanity,  practical  philanthropy,  art 
and  music,  all  are  here  in  this  city  of  beauty  and  wonder  ; 

1  A  Society  henceforth  to  be  known  in  these  pages  as  the  P.E.F. 

11 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

the  reward  and  insignia  of  wider  views  and  larger  hopes,  of 
the  elimination  of  prejudice,  and  the  recognition  of  the 
universal  Fatherhood  of  God. 

As  to  the  general  physical  aspect  of  Jerusalem,  we  may 
turn  to  the  ebullitions  of  a  hundred  pilgrims  writing  at 
intervals  during  nearly  two  thousand  years — we  can  be 
emotional  with  Chateaubriand  and  Lamartine,  or  common- 
place with  a  distinguished  ecclesiastic  who  said  the  other 
day  that  it  looked  like  a  second-rate  provincial  town  in 
Italy.  We  can,  moreover,  refrain  from  adjectives,  and — look 
at  the  view. 

Let  us  pass  to  the  balcony.  It  is  the  month  of  November  ; 
we  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be  in  Jerusalem  out  of  the  season, 
and  the  "  early  rain  "  has  fallen,  lending  colour  and  freshness 
to  a  landscape  which,  till  lately,  has  responded  to  the  sun- 
shine in  tones  of  sepia  and  grey.  The  distant  hills  have  a 
delicate  veil  of  green,  and  we  know  that  all  the  sheltered 
hollows  are  gay  with  little  gardens  of  the  autumn  crocus, 
and  sweet  with  the  breath  of  wild  thyme  and  "  the  slender 
galingale." 

We  stand,  looking  due  east,  almost  at  the  middle  of  the 
base  of  a  wide  horseshoe,  the  horizon  bounded  all  around 
by  mountains.  Beginning  to  our  right,  and  realizing  that 
"  Jordan  rolls  between,"  we  see  the  Mountains  of  Moab, 
perhaps  of  all  things  visible  from  Jerusalem,  the  sight  upon 
which  one  learns  to  gaze  with  the  most  unwearied  affection. 
Beyond  are  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Mount  Scopas,  and  the  hills 
which  unite  the  Jerusalem  group  with  the  Alpine  range  of 
Palestine.  Mount  Scopas  is  crowned  by  what  is  marked 
on  the  maps  as  "  the  English  house,"  the  country-house  of  a 
Liverpool  barrister,  and  the  centre,  during  the  spring 
months,  not  only  of  art  and  hospitality,  but  also  of  a  wide 
philanthropy  which  puts  to  shame  the  prejudice  and  bigotry 
of  many  of  the  "  good  works  "  of  the  Holy  City.  On  the 
Mount  of  Olives  a  group  of  Russian  buildings,  political  per- 
haps as  much  as  religious,  are  the  most  conspicuous  object ; 

12 


WHAT   IS   JERUSALEM   LIKE 

below  them  the  Church  of  the  Pater,1  and  the  Convents  of  the 
Carmelites  and  Benedictines,  and  the  church  of  the  Domimis 
floevit,  where  the  view  of  Jerusalem  over  which  "  Jesus 
wept,"  is  still  one  of  the  most  beautiful  anywhere  to  be  found. 
Further  northward  the  eye  easily  distinguishes  the  highest 
point  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  Viri  Galilaei,2  on  the  slope 
of  which  we  see  the  dome  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension. 

In  the  nearer  distance,  again  beginning  to  the  right  of  the 
horseshoe,  is  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  two  and  a  half  miles  in 
circumference,  of  which  nearly  the  whole  of  the  north  wall 
is  visible.  The  north-east  corner,  the  site  of  Tancred's 
camp,  is  hidden  from  us  by  the  immense  hospice  of  Notre 
Dame  de  France,  with  its  church,  theological  seminary,  and 
hospital,  but  the  fine  battlemented  wall  nearly  forty  feet  in 
height,  with  its  many  towers,  and  broken  only  by  the  Da- 
mascus Gate  and  the  Gate  of  Herod,  stretches  down  to  the 
foot  of  Mount  Scopas. 

Within  the  walls,  once  more  beginning  to  our  right,  there 
are  first  the  great  group  of  buildings  belonging  to  the  Fran- 
ciscans ; 3  east  of  these  a  curious  and  complex  group  of  which 
the  main  feature  is  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection  with 
its  two  domes  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and 
of  the  Greek  Catholicon  respectively.  Crowding  round  it, 
are  three  mosques  distinguishable  by  the  graceful  minarets 
so  characteristic  of  Jerusalem ;  and,  just  beyond,  the 
German  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  which  occupies  the  site 

1  Marking  the  spot  where  our  Lord  is  said  to  have  given  His 
prayer  to   the  Apostles,   which,    in  the    cloisters,   is  engraved  on 
marble  tablets  in  thirty-two  different  tongues. 

2  Where  the  "  Men  of  Galilee  "  were  addressed  on  the  morning 
of  the  Ascension  (Acts  i.  2). 

3  These  include  the  great  Convent  and  Church  of  San  Salvador, 
the  Casa  Nuova  or  Hospice  for  pilgrims,  the  dispensary,  schools, 
orphanages,  library,  printing  press,  dwellings  for  the  poor,  etc.     The 
nucleus  of  the  buildings  was  a  Georgian  Convent  acquired  by  the 
Franciscans  in   1551.      It  is  thus  by  several  centuries  the  oldest 
conventual  Latin  building  in  Jerusalem,  and  perhaps  for  that  reason 
of  architectural  pretensions. 

13 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

of  the  magnificent  ruins  of  the  Muristan,  the  monastery 
founded  by  Charlemagne,  later  the  centre  of  the  hospi- 
talities of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  Be- 
yond this  is  a  collection  of  synagogues,  one  of  which,  the 
green  dome  of  the  Ashkenazim  Jews,  is  alone  visible  from  our 
present  standpoint.  Passing  over  the  Jewish  quarter,  the 
,  eye  reaches  the  splendid  dome  of  the  Mosque,  the  centre  of 
the  Haram  area,  which  occupies  one-sixth  of  the  entire  city, 
a  spot  sacred  alike  to  Jew,  Christian,  and  Moslem.  The 
further  wall  of  the  Temple  area  is  also  the  east  wall  of  the 
city,  which  again  brings  us  back  to  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
with  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the  Tomb  of  our  Lady 
at  its  feet. 

Outside  the  walls,  besides  the  French  Convent  of  the 
Assumptionist  Order,  already  referred  to,  we  have  the  very 
handsome  and  extensive  buildings  of  St.  Etienne  belonging 
to  the  Dominican  Order,  with,  perhaps,  the  handsomest 
church  in  Jerusalem.  They  are  just  outside  the  Damascus, 
formerly  known  as  the  St.  Stephen's,  Gate,  and  are  built 
upon  the  site  of  three  ancient  and  successive  churches  com- 
memorating the  martyrdom  of  the  Saint.  At  our  feet  is  a 
considerable  suburb,  largely  Moslem,  the  houses  well  built, 
detached  and  generally  surrounded  by  court  or  garden,  but 
in  placing  disorderly  and  irrelevant,  a  road  not  being  by  any 
means  a  necessary  adjunct  to  a  house  in  this  country. 
Immediately  opposite  to  us  is  a  little  green  knoll *  covered 
with  Moslem  tombs  and  undermined  by  the  Grotto  of  Jere- 
miah ;  northwards  the  tower  of  St.  George's  Collegiate 
Church  peeps  through  a  break  in  the  surrounding  olive  gar- 
dens. To  our  left,  just  across  the  road,  is  a  little  stone  hall, 
unlicensed  and  unconsecrated,  which  is  what  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  exhibits  in  Jerusalem  as  the  outward  and 

1  Known  as  the  Protestant  Calvary  and  commonly  called  the 
Green  Hill  in  allusion  to  the  well  known  hymn,  though  the  adherents 
of  this  very  modern  variant  upon  a  tradition  recorded  over  1600 
years  are  naturally  few. 

14 


WHAT   IS   JERUSALEM   LIKE 

visible  sign  of  the  beauty  of  holiness.  Services  are  held 
there  twice  on  a  Sunday,  with  Holy  Communion  once  a 
month.  Behind  us  is  the  suburb  affected  by  consuls. 

It  will  thus  be  evident  that  from   any  point  slightly  ele- 
vated the  Holy  City  presents  a  compact  though  outspread 
panorama.    It  is  built  on  a  plateau  of  about  a  thousand  acres, 
sloping  from  2,589  feet  at  the  north-west  angle  down  to  the 
hill  of  the  Temple,  2,441    feet    above  the  Mediterranean, 
the  residential  suburbs,  outside  the  walls,  being  somewhat 
higher.     Its  many  domes  and  minarets  make  it,  all  question  • 
of  sentiment  apart,  an  undoubtedly  handsome  city,  and  to 
the  white  stone  of  which  it  is  built  it  owes  its  characteristic  j 
aspect  of  eternal  youth  and  eternal  hope. 


15 


CHAPTER  II 
DOMESTICITIES   IN   JERUSALEM 

EXPERIENCES  OF  THE  TRAVELLER — ECCENTRICITIES  OF  THE 

PLACE — COMMERCIAL   ASPECT — CLIMATE    AND  SCIROCCO 

—WATER     SUPPLY — VEGETATION — INSECT     ENEMIES — 

FLORA — ANOMALOUS  CUSTOMS — COINAGE — ECONOMY  OF 

LIVING 

THE  people  who  think  that  to  go  to  Jerusalem  is  to  go 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  fail  to  realize  that  it  takes 
but  one  day  longer  than  to  go  to  Cairo.  At  Port  Said  you 
turn  north  instead  of  south  ;  one  day  by  boat  brings  you 
to  Jaffa,  and  next  afternoon,  after  seeing  the  house  of 
Simon  the  Tanner,  and  the  tomb  of  Dorcas,  you  take  the 
train — there  is  only  one — to  Jerusalem. 

In  approaching  Jerusalem  one  struggles  between  contend- 
ing emotions  of  surprise  and  of  familiarity.  To  take  a 
ticket  at  the  Jaffa  station  and  see  one's  luggage  labelled  for 
Jerusalem  on  the  American  check  system — to  have  your 
belongings  examined  and  your  tickets  clipped  by  a  person 
in  a  pink  petticoat  with  a  brooch  in  the  form  of  a  railway- 
engine  to  designate  his  official  position — to  puff,  however 
slowly,  across  the  plain  of  Sharon — to  look  out  of  a  carriage- 
window  at  the  cave  where  Samson  hid,  and  at  the  vineyard 
where  he  tied  the  foxes'  tails  together — to  pass  close  by  the 
house  where  Dorcas  made  clothes  for  the  poor  (which  it  is 
to  be  hoped  in  nowise  resembled  the  garments  sent  out 
from  her  followers  in  England  to  unfortunate  little  "  con- 
verts "  here) — to  pass  the  factory  where  the  boxes  are 

16 


DOMESTICITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

made  for  Jaffa  oranges,  such  as  in  England  we  beg  from 
the  grocer  for  sitting-hens  ;  to  see  the  oranges  themselves 
growing  in  gigantic  clusters,  deep  ellipses  of  which  the 
English  representatives  are  a  poor  mockery  both  in  colour 
and  in  form — in  all  this,  it  is  difficult  from  first  to  last  to 
distinguish  between  familiarity  and  surprise. 

This  is  such  a  poor  little  thing  in  railway  trains,  although 
its  engine  was  made  in  Philadelphia,  it  hides  itself  in  such 
deep  valleys,  and  gets  so  discouraged  at  the  hills  and  so 
terribly  out  of  breath  during  the  three  hours  and  a  half 
which  it  takes  to  travel  under  forty  miles,  that  one  soon 
learns  to  forgive  its  existence. 

Up  and  up  we  go,  slowly  climbing  for  over  2,000  feet — 
the  land  which  should  be  flowing  with  milk  and  honey 
growing  more  bleak  and  desolate  as  we  proceed.  Here 
and  there  is  a  distant  village,  and  the  Arab  children  come 
racing  down  the  precipitous  hills  on  either  side  the  line,  to 
throw  bunches  of  flowers  in  at  the  window,  and  soon  come 
running  after  the  train  again  to  complain  that  the  money 
we  have  given  them  is  not  of  the  right  coinage.  It  was 
right  enough  twenty  miles  back  in  Jaffa,  but  coinage, 
beggars,  and  mosquitoes,  are  annoyances  that  are  always 
with  us. 

The  mountainous  walls  on  either  hand  widen,  and  the 
landscape  takes  a  more  human  aspect.  There  is  a  man 
ploughing  with  two  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  Highland  caschrom  ; 
here  a  tower  which  some  one  has  begun  to  build  and  is  not 
able  to  finish  ;  a  sight  which  soon  becomes  familiar  where 
the  thriftless,  shiftless,  children  of  the  East  seem  seldom 
able  to  count  beyond  a  few  piastres,  over  which  they  will 
chatter  and  haggle  with  indefatigable  enterprise.  Finally,  to 
the  north-east  stands  a  city  on  a  hill  which  cannot  be  hid, 
and  we  have  reached  Jerusalem. 

We  give  in  our  checks,  show  receipts  for  excess  luggage, 
firmly  refuse  to  take  a  cab  from  the  railway  station  to  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  which  is  our  destination,  are 

17  c 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

told  in  excellent  English  by  the  young  dragoman  who  takes 
our  affairs  in  hand,  to  "  turn  to  the  left  and  we  cannot  miss 
the  Jaffa  gate,"  and,  still  with  the  same  sense  of  mingled 
astonishment  and  familiarity,  we  set  out  toward  the  most 
sacred  spot  on  the  face  of  the  whole  world. 

We  are  to  walk  about  a  mile  due  north.  It  is  Bethlehem 
which  is  behind,  Jerusalem  before  us,  and  yet  we  are  in  the 
land  of  suburbs — a  German  suburb,  a  Jewish  suburb  ! 
Away  to  our  left  against  the  sky-line  are  a  minaret  and  two 
windmills  ;  to  our  right  the  British  Ophthalmic  Hospital 
looks  down  into  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  ;  here  we  pass  the 
Upper  Pool  of  Gihon,  where  the  steep  cliff  of  Sion  frowns 
down  upon  the  new  pleasure  gardens  of  the  Pasha. 

Life  in  Jerusalem  is  a  life  of  anomalies  and  anachronisms. 
To  the  looker-on  it  can  never  assume  the  definite  colouring 
of  other  places,  it  can  never  be  even  consistently  religious, 
as  Rome  is  religious.  Every  street  Arab  speaks  three  or 
four  languages  ;  apart  from  tourists  you  have  representa- 
tives of  half  the  nations  of  the  world.  You  have  a  dozen 
Consulates,  you  have  a  score  of  Convents,  you  have  Jews, 
Mohammedans  and  Christians  ;  you  learn  to  understand 
religious  distinctions  of  which  you  never  thought  before  ; 
you  find  that  the  Greeks  and  Russians,  like  the  Anglicans  and 
the  English  Church  Missionary  Society,  worship  apart,  that 
even  among  the  Roman  Catholics  there  are  half  a  dozen 
rites,  that  the  country  is  administered  by  a  government 
which  does  not  speak  its  language,  and  that  the  "  native  " 
is  of  an  older  race  than  that  which  immigrated  here  under 
Abraham  four  thousand  years  ago. 

But  Jerusalem  is  interesting,  is  lovable  even,  to  those  who 
ever  so  little  "  hear  the  East  a-caUing."  One  can  have 
emotions  here  of  which  in  the  West  we  know  nothing.  We, 
who  date  events  from  the  Norman  Conquest,  have  a  sense 
of  luxury  in  hearing  the  archaeologist  speak  of  some  wayside 
tomb  as  "  merely  Graeco-Roman,"  in  knowing  that  the 
ancestors  of  races  whom  the  missionary  proposes  to  elevate 

18 


DOMESTICITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

were  probably  Christians  who,  conceivably ,  dwelt  in  marble 
halls  while  his  were  running  about  in  woad. 

It  is  natural  enough  among  evidences  of  time  and  place 
so  diverse,  that  there  should  also  be  immense  diversities  in 
all  questions  of  civilization  and  convenience.  The  streets 
of  the  city  are  unspeakably  filthy  ;  happily,  except  for 
worship  (if  he  happens  to  be  anything  but  an  Anglican), 
the  resident  has  little  temptation  to  go  within  the  walls. 
One  does  not  go  to  market ;  your  servant  or  dragoman  can 
buy  things  at  about  half  the  price  you  would  give,  and  will 
enjoy  spending  half  an  hour  in  smoking  cigarettes,  drinking 
coffee,  and  cheapening  your  dinner  a  franc  or  so,  by  a 
metalik  (about  a  sou)  at  a  time. 

Even  in  what  Americans  call  "  dry-goods  "  you  can  buy 
nearly  anything  in  Jerusalem,  only  you  can  seldom  get 
quite  enough  of  it ;  you  are  always  a  yard,  or  an  ounce,  or 
half  a  dozen,  short  for  whatever  you  want  to  make.  All 
products  of  the  country,  beautiful  materials  in  cotton,  linen, 
and  silk,  are  hand- woven  and  extraordinarily  cheap  and 
good,  and  in  the  convents  one  can  get  excellent  needle- 
work ;  French  dressmaking  up  to  the  latest  fashion-plates, 
good  boot-making,  lace-making,  laundry-work,  metal-work 
in  gold  and  silver,  and  in  combinations  of  silver  and  mother 
o'  pearl,  and  so  on.  One  hardly  expects  to  find  a  County 
Council,  but  one  could  wish  that  it  were  not  the  custom 
to  put  everything  of  every  kind  that  is  not  wanted  in  the 
house  just  outside  the  front  door  ;  and  that  when  they 
water  the  roads,  which  is  every  time  that  the  Pasha's  car- 
riage is  expected,  they  would  use  water  which  had  been  less 
often  used  before. 

In  a  sense  the  Arab  is  clean.  You  cross  a  foul  doorstep 
to  enter  a  spotless  house.  The  floors  are  all  stone,  and  they 
are  constantly  damp,  from  perpetual  swilling,  so  long  as  he 
has  any  water  to  swill  with.  Perhaps  it  is  because  water  is 
at  times  an  expensive  luxury  that  he  loves  to  waste  it. 
The  white  sheet,  which  is  the  outdoor  dress  of  the  women, 

19 


is  generally  spotless,  but  it  might  be  as  well  not  to  inquire 
further.  The  kumbaz,  or  long  cotton  frock  of  the  men, 
generally  shows  traces  of  an  unscientific  wash-tub,  but  they 
all  carry  themselves  so  well,  and  are  so  lithe  and  well  set 
up,  so  great  a  contrast  to  the  slouching,  heavy  women,  that 
one  is  not  too  critical  of  details.  This  applies  only  to  the 
town:  in  the  villages  it  is  the  women  who  are  effectively 
dressed  and  graceful. 

The  native  cooking  is  good  and  extremely  elaborate. 
The  Arab  is  never  in  a  hurry,  and  some  of  the  dishes  take 
many  hours  to  prepare,  though  they  are  probably  cooked 
on  a  pinch  of  charcoal,  in  a  thing  like  a  tin  pie-dish.  I  have 
seen  a  tailor  fry  his  dinner  upon  the  charcoal  in  his  box-iron, 
and  excellent  coffee  is  prepared  over  a  spark  at  which  an 
English  cook  could  not  light  a  pipe. 

In  Jerusalem  we  do  not  talk  pluie  et  beau  temps,  but 
cisterns  and  scirocco.  At  best  the  rainfall  averages  only 
thirty  or  forty  inches,  and  the  rainy  days  may  be  counted 
on  one's  fingers,  so  that  we  forget  to  make  the  customary 
proviso  "  if  it  is  fine."  Except  on  a  few  odd  days  between 
November  and  February  it  is  always  fine,  and  our  June 
anxieties  are  not  as  to  damp  school-feasts  and  flooded 
garden-parties,  but  as  to  the  amount  of  water  in  the  cistern, 
and  whether  the  garden  may  be  permitted  to  exist  at  all ; 
for  without  water  even  the  hardy  scarlet  geranium  and 
long-suffering  marguerite  lose  heart  after  a  time,  and  hang 
down  withered  heads,  so  quickly  faded  that  the  blossoms 
have  not  had  time  to  fall ;  and  there  are  no  showers  of  scarlet 
petals  or  yellow  pollen,  such  as  proclaim  their  demise  at 
home.  At  afternoon  teas,  or  when  neighbours  meet  after 
church  (there  is  nowhere  else  to  meet  in  particular),  we  com- 
pare notes  as  to  the  contents  of  cisterns,  mainly,  and  to  the 
distraction  of  the  English  new-comer,  in  metres. 

No  one,  who  can  afford  to  do  better,  thinks  of  drinking 
water  from  the  cisterns,  however  well  cleaned  and  cared 
for  ;  as  science,  represented  by  the  doctors,  has  declared 

20 


DOMESTICITIES    IN    JERUSALEM 

that  cistern  water,  scirocco  and  mosquitoes,  are  responsible 
for  most  of  the  characteristic  ailments  of  the  European  in 
Jerusalem  ;  and  the  first  of  these  evils  is  the  only  one  we 
are  in  any  practical  degree  able  to  control.  There  is  quite 
a  trade  in  drinking-water,  which  comes  mainly  from  the 
Well  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  three  miles  away,  at  the  little 
village  of  Ain  Karim,  a  well  from  which  she  must  assuredly 
have  drawn  water,  if,  as  appears  probable,  this  little  village 
of  S.  John  in  the  mountains  were  really  the  home  of  Zacha- 
rias  and  Elizabeth,  and  the  birthplace  of  S.  John  Baptist. 
But  as  health  depends  not  only  upon  the  water  one  drinks, 
but  upon  the  amount  available  for  other  purposes,  the 
capacity  and  contents  of  the  cisterns  or  tanks  for  collecting 
water  from  the  surface  of  roofs  and  elsewhere,  is  a  prominent 
topic  of  interest. 

Only  the  very  shy  venture  upon  the  banality  of  "  Isn't 
it  hot  ?  "  but  when  in  doubt  as  to  other  subjects  one  may 
always  risk  a  speculation  as  to  scirocco.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  this  very  unpleasant  wind,  which  comes  from  the  south- 
east, has  all  the  characteristics  of  east  wind  elsewhere, 
plus  the  aggravation  that  as  it  has  a  touch  of  south,  and 
comes  to  us  across  the  arid  deserts  of  Arabia,  its  vices  are 
hot  instead  of  cold,  and  the  more  infernal  in  consequence. 
It  is,  in  short,  fatal  to  vegetation,  exhausting  to  the  nerves, 
irritating  to  the  temper,  parching  to  the  skin,  ruinous  to  the 
hair  and  complexion,  and  destructive  to  domestic  peace. 
The  lower  animals  are  restless,  children  cross,  and  adults 
behave  like  the  influenza  convalescent  in  Punch,  the  man 
on  the  Stock  Exchange,  or  other  haunt  of  the  stalwart  and 
unemotional,  who  says,  "  If  you  contradict  me  I  shall  cry."  *• 

This  aspect  of  the  Jerusalem  temperament  is  probably 

1  The  disagreeable  characteristics  of  scirocco  are  due  to  the  entire 
absence  of  ozone.  Dr.  Chaplin,  who,  until  Dr.  Masterman's  recent 
hydrometric  experiments  near  the  Dead  Sea  had  alone  represented 
British  Science  in  Jerusalem,  entirely  failed  to  get  the  slightest 
discoloration  of  ozone  paper  when  the  scirocco  was  at  all  severe. 

21 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

merely  an  evil  habit  acquired  in  past  Mays  and  Octobers, 
the  months  of  scirocco  ;  and  if  further  excuse  is  needed,  one 
may  always  plead,  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  population, 
the  absence,  not  only  of  occupation  but  of  interest  in  a  place 
where  there  is  little  occasion  for  "  servant  "  talk,  where 
there  are  no  circulating  libraries,  no  shop-windows,  where 
every  one  is  intimate  with  every  one  else's  wardrobe  and 
other  possessions,  where  little  worth  mentioning  is  ever 
achieved,  where  croquet  and  bicycles  have  not  yet  arrived, 
and  lawn-tennis,  such  as  it  is,  is  on  the  doubtful  borderland 
of  piety,  abandoned  mainly  to  the  world,  as  represented  by 
consuls,  foreigners,  and  some  half-dozen  outsiders. 

Moreover,  if  scirocco,  and  an  ineffective  existence,  do  not 
suffice  to  palliate  certain  peculiarities  of  Jerusalem  life, 
there  is  yet  one  more  excuse,  which  for  some  among  us  may 
fairly  be  taken  to  outweigh  all  other  sources  of  provocation 
put  together. 

On  Fridays  and  Sundays  the  Turkish  Band  performs,  and 
on  every  day  of  the  week  it  practises  ;  all  the  instruments 
independently  at  the  same  moment.  Music,  in  Turkey,  would 
appear  to  imply  mainly,  attention  to  rhythm,  and  the 
difference  between  playing  and  practising  consists  in  the 
combined  observance  of  time,  which  the  conductor  beats, 
not  unsuccessfully,  with  his  feet.  They  have  two  tunes, 
"  The  Turkish  March,"  which  one  recognizes  through  the 
medium  of  one's  recollections  of  "  The  Ruins  of  Athens  " 
(oh,  shades  of  Beethoven  and  Rubinstein  !),  and  another, 
or  others,  which  one  never  succeeds  in  recognizing  at  all. 
There  is  no  light  and  shade,  no  expression,  unless  a  general 
sense  of  distress  visible  on  all  surrounding  European  counte- 
nances, may  be  taken  as  evidence  of  some  kind  of  suffering, 
imperfectly  externalized. 

"  Aus  meinen  grossen  Schmerzen 
Mach'  ich  die  kleinen  Lieder  " 

might  well  be  the  motto  of  the  official  music  of  this  country— 

22 


DOMESTICITIES    IN    JERUSALEM 

assuredly  the  cause  of  at  least  some  of  its  many  evils  and 
misfortunes. 

To  return  to  scirocco.  There  is  a  superstition  that  it  lasts 
always  for  three  days,  which  are,  however,  occasionally  pro- 
longed to  eight  or  ten  ;  and  it  is  worst — that  is,  least 
endurable — in  the  otherwise  most  healthy  and  bracing 
parts  of  Syria  :  Jerusalem,  Nablous,  and  the  mountains  of 
Galilee.  Happily  it  is  less  frequent  than  is  the  east  wind 
in  Western  Europe,  but  it  makes  up  in  intensity  for  its  lack 
of  duration.  The  wise  shut  doors  and  windows,  and  come 
face  to  face  with  the  enemy  as  little  as  may  be  ;  and  it  is 
only  fair  to  hasten  to  say  that  otherwise  the  climate  of 
Jerusalem  is  as  delightful  as  can  well  be  imagined.  The 
hot,  close  nights  of  the  English  summer  are  unknown,  as 
witness  the  practical  fact  that  even  in  July  and  August  one 
never  sleeps  without  a  blanket.  Between  ten  o'clock  and 
three  it  is  wise  to  remain  indoors,  as  well  as  immediately 
after  sunset.  The  houses  are  so  well  built,  that  only  under 
very  bad  management  need  the  thermometer  ever  rise  above 
75  or  80  indoors,  even  on  days  when  to  open  the  front 
door  is  like  putting  one's  head  into  an  oven. 

After  sunset,  as  a  rule,  the  wind  rises,  and  often  after  a 
hot  day  it  amounts  to  a  positive  gale,  so  that  when  doors 
bang  and  windows  rattle,  in  a  fashion  worthy  of  Scotland, 
it  seems  strange  to  preserve  the  calm  certainty  of  cloudless 
skies  and  gentle  breezes  to-morrow  morning.  The  dews 
are  so  heavy  that  one  thinks  of  "  the  mist  that  went 
up  from  the  ground  and  watered  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth." 

There  is  much  vegetation  ;  grapes,  figs,  and  olives  ripen  ; 
pomegranate  and  oleander-blossoms  flame  ;  and  the  blue 
eryngo  waves  its  pompons  long  after  the  ground  has  become 
pale  and  hard,  when  rain  has  not  been  seen  for  three  or 
four  months,  and  there  is  still  a  certainty  of  at  least  another 
three  months  of  cloudless  sky,  with  not  so  much  as  a  thunder- 
storm to  cool  the  atmosphere — which,  however,  never 

23 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

strikes  one  as  exhausted  and  "  used  up,"  as  so  often  happens 
in  a  hot  summer  at  home. 

Of  course,  Jerusalem  has  its  own  special  diseases  ;  but 
these,  even  with  common  care  (and  not  too  much  of  it),  the 
reasonable  traveller  may  quite  easily  avoid.  If  one  stays 
indoors  during  the  prescribed  hours,  abstains  from  alcohol 
more  heating  than  the  refreshing  light  wine  of  the  country, 
does  not  eat  or  drink  too  much,  is  careful  as  to  salads, 
especially  as  to  where  they  are  grown  and  washed,  wears 
woollen  next  the  skin,  avoids  over-fatigue,  and,  above  all, 
seeks  such  protection  as  may  be  from  dust,  mosquitoes, 
and  sand-flies,  one  need  not  court  headache  under  a  pith 
helmet,  eye-ache  under  blue  glasses,  or  self-consciousness  by 
perpetual  libations  of  chlorodyne  and  quinine. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  say  that  mosquitoes  and 
;  sand-flies  are  responsible  for  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
;  fever  and  malaria  which  visit  the  Holy  Land  ;  as  good 
water  is  generally  attainable,  and  the  Syrian  almost  always 
boils  his  milk.  The  sand-fly  is,  on  the  whole,  the  worst 
offender.  He  is  to  the  mosquito  what  the  hyena  is  to  the 
tiger,  a  low,  prowling  brute  that  knows  nothing  of  fair  play. 
If,  by  your  own  mismanagement,  the  mosquito  does  get  in- 
side your  bed-curtains,  he  at  least  sounds  his  trumpet  before 
him,  and  does  his  little  best  to  play  fair.  You  can  approxi- 
mately gauge  his  proportions  and  detect  his  whereabouts. 
But  the  sand-fly  is  alike  inaudible  and  invisible.  You  may 
pin  your  curtains  close,  but  he  and  his  sail  gaily  through  the 
finest  mesh.  Clothing  is  no  protection,  Keating  is  no 
discouragement.  You  smite  him  without  injury ;  you 
triumphantly  clap  your  palms  together,  certain  of  having 
enclosed  him,  and  when  you  open  your  hand  he  flies  happily 
away,  only  refreshed  by  the  repast  he  has  snatched  upon 
your  "  Mount  of  Venus,"  or  in  the  hollow  of  your  "  line  of 
life." 

The  mosquito  is  always  with  us,  but  the  summer  invasion 
of  the  sand-fly  is  far  more  to  be  dreaded  even  than  the  pro- 

24 


longed  residence  of  the  nobler  beast  of  prey,  a  phrase  which, 
by  the  way,  reminds  one  that  they  are  never  so  offensive 
as  in  church.  Indeed,  for  these  and  other  reasons,  great 
and  small  (especially  small),  the  programme  of  worship 
should  always  include  an  immediate  return  home  and  entire 
change  of  toilet.  Even  boots  are  but  inadequate  protection 
from  the  denizens  of  Jerusalem  dust ;  and  in  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  often  crowded  and  always  ill-ventilated,  one 
becomes  acquainted  with  things  creeping  innumerable.  It 
is  at  certain  seasons,  harvest-time  especially,  the  refuge  of 
the  winged  creation  ;  from  the  common  house-fly,  fresh 
from  unspeakable  wayside  horrors,  to  the  wary  mosquito, 
whom,  even  in  death,  one  gazes  on  rather  in  horror  than  in 
triumph,  and  with  the  reflection,  "  Whose  blood  have  I 
spilt  ?  "  It  is  from  the  fact  that  his  bite  is  probably  also  an 
inoculation,  that  one  attributes  to  him  so  large  a  portion  of 
responsibility  in  the  dissemination  of  disease.  Fortunately  ^ 
malarial  fever  requires  eight  to  ten  days  to  develop,  and  one 
has  plenty  of  time  for  self-defence  in  the  shape  of  small 
doses  of  quinine — a  useful  prophylactic — after  any  specially 
severe  assault  from  the  enemy. 

"  The  "  Syrian  "  fever,  one  learns  from  an  interesting 
article  by  Dr.  Masterman  on  Residence  and  Travel  in 
Palestine,  is  a  generic  term  for  various  kinds  of  ague,  but 
''it  is,"  he  adds,  "practically  certain  that  Malta  fever 
occurs.  .  .  .  When  malaria  is  once  in  the  system,  the  most 
potent  cause  of  its  recurrence  is  chill.  Chills  are  very 
much  more  liable  to  occur  in  this  semi-tropical  climate 
than  at  home,  and  both  the  resident  and  the  traveller  are 
only  too  apt  to  think  too  lightly  of  them." 

The  winter  is,  in  its  way,  as  pleasant  as  the  summer.  A 
fire  is  welcome  in  the  evening,  and  it  is  desirable  to  carry 
a  wrap  when  you  go  out  in  the  afternoon,  for  towards  sunset 
the  air  becomes  chilly,  and  your  dress  is  probably  the 
ordinary  woollen  house-dress,  without  extra  covering,  of 
an  English  winter.  This  is,  indeed,  a  land  of  perpetual 

25 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

sunshine  ;  and  whereas  one  hears  of  Arctic  sufferings  on  the 
part  of  visitors  to  places  of  Mediterranean  winter  resort, 
except  in  hours  (and  one  advisedly  says  hours]  of  actual 
rain,  Jerusalem  never  fails  to  smile.  The  mean  annual 
temperature  is  63°.  One  breakfasts  out  of  doors  in  January, 
and  rejoices  in  the  refreshing  breezes  of  July.  To  the 
sympathetic  friends  who  wonder  how  one  endures  the 
summer  sunshine  of  Judea,  one  replies  :  "  Don't  you  wish 
you  could  keep  the  temperature  of  your  bedroom  at  65°, 
and  feel  certain  of  immunity  from  the  little  summer  shower  ?  " 
Moreover,  they  forget  that  we  are  nearly  3,000  feet  above 
sea-level,  that  a  morning's  ride  will  bring  us  within  sight  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and  a  day's  journey  within  reach  of  the 
cool  breezes  blowing  off  the  snow-clad  peaks  of  Mount 
Lebanon,  10,000  feet  high. 

Probably  nowhere  in  the  world  can  one  find  so  many 
varieties  of  climate.  Although  Palestine  lies  within  the 
subtropical  zone  of  latitude  23J°  to  34°,  the  levels  of  its 
surface  are  so  varied  that,  out  of  the  eight  zones  recognized 
in  physiography,  five  are  represented  within  this  very 
limited  area.  From  the  Mount  of  Olives,  2,723  feet  above 
sea-level,  one  looks  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Dead  Sea, 
1,292  feet  below  it,  so  that  in  a  morning's  drive  one  may 
encounter  an  entire  change  of  flora  and  fauna  ;  one  may 
look  upon  the  juniper  of  Sweden  and  the  palm- tree  of  the 
desert ;  one  may  hear  the  skylark  of  our  own  Highlands, 
and  the  long-drawn  note  of  the  grackle  of  the  tropics. 
According  to  Humboldt,  the  botanical  character  of  any 
scenery  may  be  determined  by  reference  to  some  sixteen 
tribes  of  plants,  and  of  these  one-half  are  represented  in 
Palestine  ;  namely,  palms,  acacias,  laurels,  myrtles,  pines, 
willows,  mallows,  and  lilies.  One  finds  among  the  joyous 
spring  miracle  of  wild  flowers,  not  only  countless  new 
varieties,  of  form  and  colour  undreamed  of,  but  old  friends 
wonderfully  glorified  ;  the  mallow,  and  poppy,  and  honey- 
suckle, and  mouse-ear,  and  mandrake,  and  star  of  Bethlehem ; 

26 


DOMESTICITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

the  thistle,  and  clover,  and  linus,  and  flag-lily,  of  our  fields 
and  hedgerows,  all  wonderfully  varied  and  dignified  ;  as 
well  as  the  arums  and  cyclamen,  crocus  and  anemone,  scillas, 
and  a  hundred  other  glories  of  our  English  garden,  flaunting 
by  the  wayside  in  glorious  array  and  new  magnificence,  the 
very  apotheosis  of  the  humbler  types  at  home. 

The  Arab  best  loves  flowers  of  strong  scent,  and  it  is 
perhaps  mainly  owing  to  this  that  the  stock,  carnation,  and 
violet  are  cultivated  wherever  flowers  are  cultivated  at  all  ; 
and  that  other  plants  of  familiar  association,  not  always 
inherently  beautiful,  have  nevertheless  a  recognized  place 
in  most  gardens — hedges  of  wormwood  and  fennel,  or  more 
fragrant  rosemary,  and  rows  of  every  variety  of  pot-herbs, 
including  many  new  to  the  European  visitor.  As  one  walks 
along  the  ill-smelling  streets,  one  constantly  comes  across 
groups  of  peasant-women,  offering  for  sale  great  heaps  of 
herbs  deliciously  perfumed  and  bought  largely  by  the 
Russian  pilgrims.  There  is  a  whole  bazaar  of  drugs  and 
scented  herbs  and  seeds  and  woods,  many  probably  of 
foreign  origin  ;  not  only  the  aloes,  balm  of  Gilead,  calamus, 
cassia,  cinnamon,  frankincense,  and  myrrh,  all  obtained  from 
scented  woods  brought  from  still  further  east,  but  other 
scents  belonging  nearer  home  ;  the  fruit-stalls  are  decorated 
with  garlands  of  orange-blossom,  jessamine,  stephanotis, 
and  tuberoses  ;  and  the  carpenters'  shops  are  fragrant  with 
the  delicious  cypress-wood,  of  which  the  bridal  chests  are 
made,  and  which,  especially  when  freshly  sawn,  is  sweet  as 
sandalwood. 

One  cannot  wonder — in  contemplating  either  the  good  or 
bad  smells  of  Jerusalem — that  the  Jews  have  special  thanks- 
givings for  pleasant  odours  :  "  Blessed  art  Thou,  oh  Lord, 
our  God,  King  of  the  Universe — Creator  of  fragrant  woods, 
Creator  of  fragrant  plants — Who  dost  bestow  a  goodly  scent 
on  fruits — Who  Greatest  all  sorts  of  spices — Who  created 
pleasantly  scented  oil,"  the  special  addition  being  selected 
to  suit  the  case  in  point. 

27 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

It  is  only  to  the  superficial  observer  that  this  is  a  barren 
country.  It  was  our  own  first  impression,  upon  arriving  in 
December  ;  not  that  one  has  any  right  to  complain  that  a 
country  does  not  look  fertile  in  mid- winter,  especially  when 
the  grey-green  of  the  olive  contrasts  everywhere  with  the 
grey-brown  of  the  bare  hillsides.  Even  then,  the  children 
were  offering  bunches  of  cyclamen,  primroses,  anemones, 
at  every  station  on  the  railway  ;  maidenhair  and  lady-fern 
were  waving  in  the  recesses  of  every  tomb.  Within  a  very 
few  weeks,  a  delicate  green  hue  began  to  creep  over  the 
faded  fields,  and  day  after  day,  as  one  opened  the  eastern 
window  to  the  warm  glow  of  sunrise,  one  noted  how  the 
spring  tints  became  deepened  and  diffused.  The  wondrous 
glories  of  the  Syrian  spring  are  beyond  all  description,  and 
the  wealth  of  golden  harvest  beginning  in  May  lasted  well 
into  June  ;  and  now,  in  mid- August,  when  cisterns  are 
emptying,  and  rain  is  unhoped  for,  the  hillsides  are  gloriously 
green  with  the  vines,  not  stiffly  trained  as  elsewhere,  but 
lying  on  the  warm  bosom  of  mother  earth,  and  clothing  the 
rocks  and  bare  stone  walls  with  the  fresh  glistening  beauty 
of  foliage,  green  and  fresh  as  April  lime-trees,  or  the  horse 
chestnuts  of  Bushey  Park  before  the  first  summer  dust  has 
flecked  their  radiant  youth.  Golden  apricots  gleam  under 
dark  green  leaves,  in  trees  which  shelter  the  roadsides  ;  the 
figs  are  ripening,  and  the  olives  are  still  in  prospect :  and  so 
here,  as  elsewhere,  every  month  brings  her  own  crown  of 
delight  and  beauty.  The  peasants  are  leaving  their  homes 
in  the  narrow  streets  of  the  neighbouring  villages,  and 
betaking  themselves  to  the  rough  stone  watch-towers  which 
shelter  them  when  the  fruit  harvest  is  about  to  be  gathered  in. 

Often,  in  this  country,  one  is  reminded  of  the  customs  of 
the  Western  Highlands,  as  doubtless  are  those  from  other 
lands  of  similar  habits  common  to  all  elementary  peoples  ; 
and  the  little  groups  of  peasants  carrying  a  few  homely 
household  utensils,  the  children  and  domestic  animals 
snatching  their  own  pleasures  by  the  roadside,  the  little 

28 


DOMESTICITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

picnics  under  a  wayside  tree,  recall  to  mind  the  shealing 
migrations  of  Sutherlandshire  or  the  Hebrides.  One  thinks 
too,  in  sight  of  the  round  towers  made  of  unhewn  stones 
roughly  piled  together,  perched  in  the  corner  of  field  or 
garden,  of  "  the  lodge  in  the  garden  of  cucumbers,"  which 
in  truth  it  often  most  literally  is  ;  but  the  cucumbers  are 
far  more  dainty  than  ours,  and  ripen  so  much  more  quickly 
that  they  have  a  savour  especially  their  own  ;  be  they  the 
ordinary  cucumber  of  the  western  market  or  any  of  the 
varieties  of  cucumbers,  gourds,  and  melons,  smaller  and 
more  delicate  than  any  known  to  us,  which  are  so  familiar 
a  feature  in  the  Syrian  dietary. 

Jerusalem,  for  all  its  sacredness,  is  not  without  its  humours. 
It  is  topsy-turvy  land.  The  native  entering  a  sacred  place, 
takes  off  his  shoes  and  keeps  on  his  hat ;  you  begin  to  read 
a  book  at  the  end  ;  the  landlord  pays  the  taxes  ;  your 
servant  walks  in  front  of  you  instead  of  behind  ;  a  man 
calls  himself  not  Mac,  but  Abu,  not  "  the  son  of,"  but  "  the 
father  of  "  ;  the  men  wear  petticoats  and  the  women  expose 
their  legs  while  they  cover  their  faces  ;  the  theory  of  "  ladies 
first  "  is  a  novelty  from  Europe  ;  they  put  carpets  on  their 
walls,  and  pictures  on  their  ceilings  ;  you  buy  milk  by  weight. 
'Any  and  'Arriet  are  unknown  ;  the  men  dance  together, 
and  in  public  places  men  and  women  sit  apart ;  giggling  has 
not  yet  been  introduced,  nor  public-houses  ;  there  is  no 
smoking  of  pipes,  and  no  expectoration  in  the  streets. 
Swearing  there  is,  but  of  a  different  type  from  the  universal 
English  adjective.  It  takes  longer,  but  it  leaves  some  scope 
for  originality  ;  it  is  after  the  fashion  of  the  109th  psalm, 
only  "  more  so."  It  is  indirect,  whether  from  inherent 
politeness,  or  from  deference  to  the  law  of  libel.  A  man 
curses,  not  the  priest  but  the  bishop  who  ordained  him,  not 
you  but  any  of  your  ancestors  or  relatives  whom  it  occurs 
to  him  to  mention.1  Courtesy  requires  the  form  of  generosity 

1  There  are,  however,  certain  oaths  that  are  not  lightly  used,  and 
which  are  considered  binding,  such  as  the  Half  el  Yamin  el- 

29 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

rather  than  of  gratitude — you  must  place  all  that  you  possess 
at  the  disposal  of  your  friend,  but  Arabic  contains  no  word 
for  "  Thank  you." 

Another  of  its  humours  is  the  coinage.  It  has  practically 
given  up,  as  inconveniently  small,  the  para,  which  was  the 
fortieth  part  of  two  pence  ;  but  it  retains  the  kabak,  of  the 
size  and  weight  of  a  crown  piece  and  worth  about  a  farthing 
though  marked  at  eight  times  that  value,  and  formerly 
worth  about  twopence  halfpenny. 

Everything  is  valued  in  piastres,  but  the  coin  exists 
apparently  mainly  to  be  alluded  to.  When  you  do  come 
across  it,  it  is  worth  a  piastre  and  an  eighth.  There  are 
however,  some  two-piastre  pieces  worth  two  piastres  and  a 
fourth,  and  locally  known  as  "  fleas,"  though  not  nearly  so 
numerous. 

It  is  said  that  a  Turkish  pound  was  once  worth  only  100 
piastres,  now  it  is  worth  at  the  post-office  124  piastres,  and 
at  the  shops  136J,  so  that  nothing  is  a  measure  of  anything 
else.  In  despair  you  fly  to  francs,  and  find  that  when  you 
pay  in  gold,  your  franc  is  worth  nearly  5|  piastres,  but  in 
silver  only  5£  piastres.  The  commonest  silver  coin  is  a 
medjidi,  which  is  worth  23  piastres  in  the  shops,  or  20  at 
the  post  or  other  Government  offices,  and  is  no  proportional 
part  of  a  pound.  The  beshlik,  the  commonest  "  metal  " 
coin,  for  it  is  neither  silver  nor  copper,  is  so  called  from  the 
Turkish  words  besh  and  lik — "  a  piece  of  five  "—apparently 
because  it  has  no  particular  relation  to  that  or  any  other 
number,  being  worth  3  piastres  in  the  shops  and  2£  at  the 

Arab,  the  faithful  oath  of  the  Arab,  which  is  thus  described  by 
a  recent  traveller  :  "  Drawing  a  circle  in  the  court  where  we 
were  reclining,  he  took  a  broken  bit  of  a  dry  stem  of  grass  between 
his  hands,  and  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  circle  with  great  solem- 
nity repeated  the  following,  '  By  the  life  of  this  stem  and  the  Lord 
the  adored,  and  the  line  of  Solomon  the  son  of  David,  to  him  who 
lies  may  none  be  born.'  The  circle,  the  unbroken  line,  symbolizes 
truth,  and  the  failure  of  posterity  is  the  Oriental's  most  grievous 
penalty." 

30 


DOMESTICITIES    IN    JERUSALEM 

post-office.  The  remaining  common  coin  is  a  metalik,  a 
piece  of  tin  rather  smaller  than  a  shilling  and  worth  12£  paras. 
Eight  of  them  go  to  a  beshlik,  which  is  worth  about  6d., 
but  they  do  not  divide  evenly  into  anything  else.  The 
easiest  common  denominator  is  perhaps  the  humble  para, 
of  which  five  make  a  kabak,  12£  a  metalik,  40  a  piastre, 
120  a  beshlik,  and  920  a  medjidi.  Only  the  Oriental  could 
have  invented  a  coinage  so  inconsequent  as  this.  Moreover, 
when  you  have  mastered  the  coinage  and  the  weights  and 
measures  of  Jerusalem,  you  have  to  begin  all  over  again 
if  you  go  anywhere  else.  Even  in  Bethlehem,  eight  miles 
away,  you  must  acquire  a  new  set  of  names  if  not  values. 

The  Holy  City  is  not  an  expensive  place  to  live  in,  for 
although  house-rent  sounds  about  as  dear  as  in  any  ordinary 
English  town,  one  has  to  remember  that  there  are  practically 
no  rates  and  the  landlord  pays  the  taxes.  A  house  of  ten 
rooms  with  perhaps  an  acre  of  garden  costs  about  £60  a 
year,  and  one  of  six  or  seven  with  half  an  acre,  about  half 
as  much.  Most  houses  have  stabling,  and  the  hall  generally 
serves  as  dining  or  drawing-room,  as  the  case  may  be.  They 
are  very  well  built,  with  the  cupboards  and  recesses  and 
deep  window-sills  of  a  bygone  period. 

Labour  is  cheap.  A  good  cook  can  be  had  at  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  francs  a  month,  an  indoor  man-servant  at 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five,  a  housemaid  for  a  napoleon,  a 
boy  for  three  or  four  medjidis,  that  is  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
francs. 

In  Jerusalem  the  price  of  food  varies  greatly  according 
to  season,  and  also  according  to  the  purchaser.  You  have 
to  pay  for  being  a  consul,  or,  if  you  are  a  woman,  for  wearing 
a  hat.  Missionaries  are  not  expected  to  pay  lavishly,  and 
ladies  living  in  pairs,  as  they  always  do,  can  keep  a  man 
and  a  maid  and  a  couple  of  donkeys,  and  save  at  least  half 
their  professional  income.  It  is  fair  to  say,  however,  that 
they  have  house-rent,  medical  attendance  and  passage 
home  on  board  ship  free,  eight  or  ten  weeks'  holiday  in 

31 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

the  year,  and  six  months  every  three  years — but  then 
every  one  cannot  aspire  to  be  a  missionary  ;  and  mere 
doctors,  and  consuls,  and  clergy,  have  to  work  for  their 
living. 

Meat  is  bought  by  the  rottle,  which  is  about  six  pounds, 
mutton  sometimes  rises  as  high  as  seventeen  piastres,  though, 
says  my  informant,  "in  June  it  fell  to  twelve  piastres,  when 
the  Greeks  were  fasting."  A  piastre  being  worth  twopence 
at  the  shops,  we  may  take  it  that  mutton  varies  from  four- 
pence  to  nearly  fivepence  halfpenny  a  pound.  Lamb,  early, 
costs  as  much  as  eighteen  piastres,  or  sixpence  a  pound  ; 
beef  about  fourpence,  the  fillet  about  sixpence.  Partridges 
are  dear  at  eightpence  each,  and  they  are  vastly  superior 
to  their  namesakes  in  England.  A  large  turkey  is  worth 
perhaps  five  shillings.  Chickens  cost  a  shilling  or  one  and 
twopence  a  pair,  but  it  is  best  to  buy  them  alive,  and  feed 
them  for  two  or  three  weeks. 

Fruit  is  of  course  exceedingly  cheap,  as  are  also  vegetables, 
both  being  very  varied,  and  of  excellent  quality.  Fish, 
heavily  taxed  when  it  is  caught,  is  practically  unattainable, 
and  milk  is  very  dear  in  the  summer  months,  but  by  an 
arrangement  with  some  of  the  convents  one  can  get  it  at 
about  the  English  price — fourpence  a  quart  the  year  round. 
Butter  and  cheese  are  very  good  when  in  season,  but  are 
scarce  during  five  or  six  months  of  the  year.  One  can  get 
excellent  white  Bethlehem  wine  at  half  a  franc  a  bottle, 
and  a  sweet  wine  which  has  the  effect  of  new  port  for  less 
than  a  shilling  ;  wholesale,  of  course,  it  is  much  cheaper. 
Eggs  in  summer  are  about  fourpence  a  dozen,  though  in  the 
season  they  rise  to  three  for  twopence. 

Bread  is  about  the  same  price  as  in  England.  Of  course 
no  one  eats  cold  meat,  and  all  marketing  is  done  daily  in 
the  early  morning  ;  ice,  however,  is  attainable  at  very 
moderate  price.  Foreign  groceries  and  drugs  are  a  little 
dearer  than  in  England.  Leather  and  metal  work  are  very 
good,  and  shoes,  made  to  measure  at  ten  francs  a  pair,  are 

32 


DOMESTICITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

difficult  to  wear  out,  even  on  the  Jerusalem  roads,  many  of 
which  look  as  if  a  wall  had  been  casually  spilt  upon  them. 
You  can  get  a  good  riding-horse  for  five  shillings,  and  a  very 
good  victoria  and  pair  for  about  sixteen  shillings  a  day,  and 
for  sixpence  you  can  call  in  style  upon  any  one  within  a 
mile  of  Jerusalem.  There  are  no  omnibuses — happily — 
but  if  you  like  to  risk  your  company,  that  is  to  risk  other 
than  human  company,  you  can  go  in  a  carriage  to  Bethlehem 
(for  example),  eight  miles,  also  for  sixpence.  A  porter  will 
carry  anything  anywhere  for  about  five  metaliks,  or  a  little 
over  threepence.  You  may  see  one  man  carry  a  cottage 
piano,  or  an  iron  girder,  or  a  twenty-foot  section  of  railway 
line,  though  probably  luggage  of  that  sort  commands  a 
special  price.  You  tip  with  a  franc,  where  in  England  you 
would  give  half  a  crown,  which  is  only  in  fair  proportion  to 
wages  ;  and  though  your  laundry  costs  you  from  two  francs 
to  two  and  a  half  a  dozen,  it  comes  home  snow-white,  and 
the  price  includes  dresses  and  all  the  "  white  wear  "  essential 
to  the  climate.  If  you  wash  at  home,  your  laundry- woman, 
often  Russian  or  Armenian,  costs  about  one  and  twopence 
a  day;  but  then  skilled  labour  is  dear,  and  you  can  get  an 
ordinary  charwoman  for  about  sixpence  !  Furniture  used 
to  be  costly  and  scarce,  but  you  can  now  get  any  design  in 
wood  and  metal-work  copied  at  a  very  reasonable  price  in 
the  workshops  of  the  Alliance  Israelite.  The  less  of  carpets, 
curtains,  and  general  upholstery  one  has  the  better  ;  but 
this  is,  naturally  the  happy  hunting-ground  for  rugs,  em- 
broideries, and  inlaid  cabinet- ware. 

Considering  the  advantages  of  climate,  economy  of  living, 
and  convenience  of  access,  entirely  apart  from  other  attrac- 
tions and  advantages  even  to  those  other  than  students  and 
artists,  it  is  extraordinary  that  the  number  of  English, 
resident  in  Jerusalem  from  choice,  may  be  counted  on  the 
fingers  of  one  hand.  Among  visitors  even,  their  numbers 
are  many  times  multiplied  by  those  of  the  Americans.  On 
account  of  its  elevation  the  extremes  of  temperature  are 

33  D 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

much  less  perceptible  than  in  other  places  in  the  same 
latitude.  To  put  the  fact  in  familiar  form,  I  have  never 
seen  a  candle  "  fainting  "  in  the  summer,  and  I  have  never 
slept  without  a  blanket ;  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  course 
of  two  winters,  I  have  seldom  worn  an  out-door  wrap  except 
for  driving. 

The  problem  why  people  of  small  incomes,  independent 
of  their  surroundings,  continue  to  struggle  along  in  England 
and  America,  becomes  more  perplexing  as  the  struggle 
becomes  more  difficult.  Perhaps  one  solution  is — that 
others  may  struggle  the  less,  elsewhere. 


34 


CHAPTER  III 
"CRANKS"   IN   JERUSALEM 

INDIVIDUAL  ECCENTRICITIES — SPITTLER  OP  BASEL — THE 
MILLERITES — AMEN-ITES — CHURCH  OF  THE  MESSIAH- 
AWAITING  THE  ANTI-CHRIST — THE  OVERCOMERS 

IT  is  a  recognized  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  insanity 
takes  the  form  of  religious  mania,  and  as  Jerusalem, 
more  even  than  Rome  herself,  is  the  gathering-place  of 
creeds,  the  holy  place  alike  of  Christian,  Jew  and  Moslem, 
nay  more,  as  she  unites  the  still  wider  disparities  of  sect  and 
sect,  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  all  the  more  striking  eccen- 
tricities of  Christianity  seem  to  have  been,  at  some  time  or 
other,  represented  within  her  walls,  from  the  self-tortured 
ascetics  of  the  earliest  Christian  centuries,  down  to  the 
latest  extravagances  fresh  from  America. 

On  the  north  of  the  Holy  City  is  the  settlement  of  the 
American  Colony,  commonly  known  from  their  founder 
as  Spaffordites,  on  the  south  that  of  the  Templars  or 
Hofmannites,  both  societies  admirable  for  their  order 
and  their  industry,  if  somewhat  erratic  in  theological 
opinions.  On  the  west  we  have  the  immense  ruin  of  the 
unfinished  building  in  which,  half  a  century  ago,  some 
wealthy  lady,  apparently  Dutch  (although  variously  re- 
ported as  English,  Belgian  and  German)  proposed  to  house 
the  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand  who  had  been 
sealed  in  the  middle  of  their  foreheads  ;  a  scheme  arrested 

35 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

by  the  Government  on  the  ground  of  the  danger  to  society 
involved  in  so  large  a  gathering  of  Jews.1 

To  the  east,  we  have  the  mount  of  Olives,  geographically 
the  rallying-place  of  an  extraordinary  variety  of  enthusiasts, 
including  a  worthy  Englishwoman  who  is  alleged  (probably 
with  some  exaggeration)  to  be  in  constant  readiness  to 
welcome  Our  Lord's  return  thither  with  a  cup  of  tea.  We 
have  Adventists  and  Lydites,  and  Seventh  Day  Baptists,  and 
Mormons»,  and  votaries  of  Christian  Science.  We  have  had 
a  penitent  Englishman  who  did  penance  for  his  sins  by  beat- 
ing his  wife  because  it  was  the  punishment  which  caused 
him  the  most  pain.  We  have  a  worthy  Englishwoman 
who  at  over  fifty  years  of  age  converted  a  modest  competence 
into  portable  property,  and  wandered  out  to  Jerusalem 
alone,  with  fifty-six  pounds  of  luggage  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  of  money,  upon  which,  with  the  kindly  help 
of  foreigners  of  another  creed,  she  has  lived  for  over  twenty- 
five  years,  convinced  of  the  justice  of  her  undertaking  by 
the  fact  that  she  had  travelling  companions  whose  relation 
to  each  other  permitted  her  to  suppose  her  journey  a  fulfil- 
ment of  Jeremiah  iii.  14  :  "I  will  take  you  one  of  a  city, 
and  two  of  a  family,  and  I  will  bring  you  to  Zion." 

We  have  had  a  well-intentioned  pilgrim  who,  deciding  some- 
what hastily  that  her  turn  of  mind  was  ascetic,  presented 
herself  at  a  strictly  enclosed  convent,  entreating  to  be 
accepted  as  a  novice,  and  insisting  (immediately  upon 
gaining  admission,  in  spite  of  all  representations  as  to  the 
length  of  novitiate  required)  on  cutting  off  her  hair.  Having 
discovered,  however,  in  a  few  days,  that  she  had  no  vocation, 
she  was  next  observed  at  the  door  of  the  hospice,  where 
her  fellow-pilgrims  had  been  received,  imploring  the  advice 
of  some  young  theological  students  as  to  where  in  Jerusalem 
she  could  get  a  wig — a  situation  that  probably  afforded 
them  considerable  amusement. 

1  It  is  moreover  alleged  that  she  gave  additional  offence  to  the 
Turkish  government  by  raising  a  regiment  of  Servian  revolutionaries. 

36 


•CRANKS"    IN    JERUSALEM 

We  have  had  a  lady  who,  partly  as  a  propagandist  of 
rational  dress,  partly  in  the  interests  of  self-sacrificing 
economy,  wore  skirts  so  exceedingly  narrow  that  when  she 
fell  down  the  church  steps  she  was  unable  to  recover  her 
feet ;  and  another  (or  perhaps  the  same)  who  provided 
herself  with  inexpensive  millinery  by  trimming  her  hat  with 
a  cotton  pocket  handkerchief  on  which  was  printed  an 
Arabic  love-song,  of  a  nature  so  erotic  as  to  afford  consider- 
able entertainment  to  the  native  element  in  the  congregation 
at  Church.  We  have  had  a  German  who  on  principle  left 
his  hair  and  beard  to  nature  and  dressed  in  a  single  and 
scanty  garment,  but  whose  natural  beauty  and  good 
grooming  decidedly  commended  his  teaching,  subject  to 
the  state  of  the  thermometer.  We  have  had  an  Eng- 
lishman who  reduced  his  wardrobe  to  a  Norfolk  jacket 
and  knickerbockers,  with  results  aesthetically  less  at- 
tractive. We  have  a  colony  profanely  known  as  the 
Tishbites — English  and  American — presided  over  by  "  the 
prophet  Elijah."  Scarcely  a  year  goes  by  without  the 
arrival  of  some  one  who  dares  to  assume  a  personality  still 
more  sacred.  Every  greater  festival  is  attended  by  various 
strange-looking  figures  ;  pious  men  who  for  the  rest  of  the 
year  pass  an  eremitic  existence  in  dens  and  caves  of  the 
earth.  We  have  defroques  priests  and  declassees  nuns, 
generally  leading  truly  penitent  and  devout  lives,  often 
after  some  quaint  and  ascetic  fashion.  We  have  numberless 
women  of  whom  it  is  generally  whispered  that  they  have  a 
"  past,"  and  who,  as  the  French  untranslateably  express  it, 
courent  les  eglises.  We  have  irresponsible  philanthropists 
and  "  independent  "  missionaries,  we  have  those  to  whom 
obscure  rites  have  been  miraculously  revealed,  and  votaries 
of  "  Gordon's  Calvary."  We  have  a  good  many  persons 
of  whom  it  may  be  conjectured  that  their  nearest  and  dearest 
long  ago  "  wished  them  at  Jericho,"  and  who  in  the  endea- 
vour to  oblige  have  stopped  a  few  miles  short  on  the  way. 
In  fine,  as  a  resident  expressed  the  situation,  at  a  time 

37 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

when  there  was  a  talk  of  erecting  an  asylum  for  imbeciles, 
we  should  not  be  altogether  in  the  wrong  "  if  we  took  down 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  built  them  up  again,  so  as  to 
include  the  suburbs." 

The  Anglo-Israelite  crank  is  of  course  one  of  the  common 
objects  of  Jerusalem  life,  and  is  of  various  degrees  of 
sincerity  and  reasonableness.  His  raison  d'etre  ranges 
from  pure  ignorance  and  assertiveness  up  to  the  complex 
eccentricities  of  a  certain  Doctor  Sivartha,  who  by  dint  of 
complicating  the  historical  question  by  those  of  phrenology, 
physiology,  and  astrology,  succeeded  in  rendering  the 
so-called  study  a  very  serious  affair.  He  was  in  Jerusalem 
about  1878  and  among  the  older  inhabitants  are  some  still 
in  possession  of  elaborate  maps  or  charts  showing  that  the 
missing  Ten  Tribes  consist  of  Norse,  Saxons  and  Fellahs  to 
the  number  of  fifty-one  millions,  while  the  Jews,  recognized 
as  such,  amount  to  only  about  a  sixth  of  that  number. 
He  produced,  moreover,  a  plan  of  Salema,  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, showing  the  return  of  the  missing  tribes  and  assigning 
to  them  their  proper  places  in  the  Holy  City  according  to 
their  relation  (ascertained  from  Ezek.  xlviii.  and  Rev.  xxi. ) 
with  the  mental  faculties,  of  which,  he  observes,  institutions 
are  but  an  outgrowth.  Hence,  to  put  it  briefly,  the  various 
departments  of  the  New  Jerusalem  will  be  distributed  in 
accordance  with  human  faculty  as  exhibited  by  phrenology  ; 
Asher,  for  example  as  Science  over  the  eyes,  Naphtali  and 
Judah  above  as  Culture  and  Marriage,  and  Gad  and  Simeon 
below  as  Art  and  Letters. 

Though  the  effective  colonization  of  the  Holy  Land  mainly 
by  the  Jews  and  the  Germans  becomes  every  day  more 
obvious  and  more  definite,  it  was,  like  many  other  schemes 
destined  to  ultimate  success,  for  a  long  time  in  the  hands  of 
a  class  very  familiar  to  the  student  of  Jerusalem,  and  who 
can  best  be  described  as  "  cranks."  Of  some  of  these  an 
excellent  account  has  been  given  by  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer 
(P.E.F.  1900),  the  first  on  his  list  being  Spittler  of  Basel, 

38 


"CRANKS"    IN   JERUSALEM 

who  proposed  to  establish  lines  of  mission-stations  radiating 
from  Jerusalem  as  a  centre,  the  first  of  which  was  to  consist 
of  twelve,  leading  in  the  direction  of  Central  Africa,  and 
called  after  the  twelve  Apostles.  The  scheme  began  and 
ended  with  the  importation  into  Jerusalem,  about  1847, 
of  four  mechanics,  who,  after  a  time,  found  they  had  no 
vocation  for  celibacy  and  other  conditions  of  the  mission, 
and  who  all  returned  to  secular  life.  In  this  they  apparently 
showed  good  judgment,  as  all  four  have  been  eminently 
successful,  each  in  his  special  career  :  Dr.  Schick  as  the 
greatest  authority  on  underground  Jerusalem,  Palmer  as 
a  highly  respected  teacher,  the  Rev.  S.  Miiller  as  the  founder 
of  a  German  Mission  at  Bethlehem,  while  the  fourth  was, 
perhaps,  the  pioneer  of  agricultural  colonists.  This  was 
Baldensperger,  who  proceeded  to  cultivate  gardens  at 
Urtas  which  may  be  said  to  have  led  indirectly  to  the 
existence  of  the  Agricultural  and  Trades  School,  known  as 
Schneller's  Syrian  Orphanage,  and  (under  his  son)  to  the 
establishment  of  the  interesting  apiaries  at  Wady  Hanein, 
Jaffa  and  elsewhere,  a  highly  successful  effort  to  produce 
the  honey  hitherto  almost  unknown  in  the  Holy  Land,  and 
which  is  accomplished  by  moving  the  hives  on  the  backs  of 
camels  from  one  place  to  another,  in  search  of  this  or  that 
form  of  pasture  requisite  for  the  bees. 

A  more  eccentric  scheme  was  that  of  a  certain  Mrs. 
Minor,  the  wife  of  a  rich  Philadelphian  merchant,  who  was 
a  disciple  of  the  Millerites,  a  body  of  Methodists  and  Bap- 
tists, who  expected  the  second  Advent  on  October  25,  1843. 
When  the  day  passed  with  no  distinguishing  features,  they 
discovered  that  the  date  should  have  been  reckoned  by 
Jewish,  not  by  Roman  time,  and  that  the  catastrophe  would 
occur  on  October  25,  1844,  at  about  3  p.m.  When  this 
day  in  turn  approached,  the  whole  party  bid  farewell  to  the 
Sodomites  of  Philadelphia  and  went  into  camp  at  a  little 
distance,  one,  it  is  said,  having  left  a  notice  on  the  shutters 
of  his  shop  :  "  Closed  in  honour  of  the  King  of  kings." 

39 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Again  the  day  passed  and  the  trump  of  doom  failed  to 
sound,  but  instead  there  came  a  high  wind  which  blew 
down  the  tents  and  obliged  the  Millerites  to  seek  shelter  in 
the  Sodom  they  had  left  "  for  ever."  Then  the  prophetess 
took  to  fasting,  prayer,  and  the  investigation  of  prophecy, 
which  led  to  the  discovery  that  she  was,  in  fact,  Esther, 
who  "  must  go  before  the  King  and  become  God's  instru- 
ment to  make  ready  the  land  of  Israel  for  the  King's  return." 

An  Advent-brother  shared  the  conviction  (it  is  said  with 
no  objection  from  Mr.  Minor  or  the  Advent-brother's  wife), 
and  together  they  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  where,  after 
many  vicissitudes,  they  arrived  on  May  15,  1849.  There 
they  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  certain  Mr.  Meshullam, 
a  Hebrew  Christian,  at  whose  hotel  in  Jerusalem  they  had 
established  themselves,  and  who  owned  some  lands  and 
gardens  in  the  direction  of  Bethlehem  which — it  was  revealed 
to  the  prophetess — she  was  destined  to  develop.  What 
became  of  the  Advent-brother,  history  does  not  relate,  but, 
clear  at  last  as  to  the  intentions  of  Providence,  Mrs.  Minor 
hastened  back  to  the  United  States,  whence  she  returned 
widowed,  but  re-inforced  by  a  large  body  of  Millerites, 
Presbyterians  and  Seventh  Day  Baptists,  and  a  considerable 
sum  of  money.  Even  Jews  were  attracted  by  the  Seventh 
Day  observance  of  Sunday,  and  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  himself 
endorsed  the  scheme.  But  nothing  could  prevail  against 
the  internal  dissensions  which  soon  arose.  The  colonists 
did  not  approve  of  Mr.  Meshullam,  some  even  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  doubt  his  disinterestedness,  and  at  the  end  of 
a  couple  of  years  the  community  dissolved.  Again  there 
was  a  residuum  of  good.  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  came  to 
the  rescue  and  established  some  of  the  malcontents  in  an 
orange-garden  in  the  plain  of  Sharon,  the  seed  of  the  move- 
ment long  afterwards  known  as  "  Zionism,"  for  soon  after 
Mrs.  Minor's  death,  in  1855,  the  American  and  German 
element  died  out  and  the  Jewish  alone  ultimately  survived. 

Another  set,  this  time  from  Germany,  calling  themselves 

40 


"CRANKS"    IN    JERUSALEM 

the  "  Amen-ites "  because  they  believed  that  prophecy 
was  about  to  receive  the  seal  of  Amen  or  fulfilment,  arrived 
about  1858.  Their  leader,  however,  never  returned  from 
an  expedition  made  to  discover  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant, 
and  the  movement  died  a  natural  death. 

The  "  Church  of  the  Messiah,"  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  three,  appeared  upon  the  scenes  in  1866. 
It  was  composed  largely  of  Americans,  including  some 
surviving  Millerites,  Latter  Day  Saints,  Wesleyans  and 
others  whose  object  was  to  "  build  up  the  waste  cities," 
and  who,  accordingly,  began  operations  by  erecting  some 
wooden  houses  brought  with  them  from  America.  They 
met  with  many  discouragements  from  a  fearful  rate  of 
mortality  and  destruction  of  crops ;  but  again  the  little 
venture  served  an  unforeseen  purpose,  and  their  land  passed 
ultimately  into  the  hands  of  the  Templars,  a  colony  of 
Germans  whose  industry  and  admirable  organization  has 
met  with  extraordinary  success  both  in  commerce  and  agri- 
culture, and  whose  village  south  of  Jerusalem  is  in  itself  a 
valuable  object-lesson,  not  only  to  the  natives  of  the  country 
but,  still  more,  to  many  would-be  but  ineffective  European 
philanthropists.  The  colony  in  Jerusalem  was  founded 
in  1871,  the  sister  colony  in  Jaffa  in  1868.  A  third  is  now 
being  formed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ramleh. 

In  1885  there  arrived  a  party  of  Saxons  under  the  guidance 
of  a  miner  who  had  received  information  from  the  Evil  One 
as  to  the  immediate  incarnation  of  the  Anti-Christ,  whom 
they  were  directed  to  await  in  Jerusalem.  Unfortunately 
for  their  finances  he  tarried,  and  the  party  was  soon  reduced 
to  extreme  poverty,  whence  they  were  rescued,  as  many  in 
need  have  been  rescued,  by  the  kindness  and  benevolence 
of  the  American  Colony,  who  are  also  credited  with  various 
deviations  from  orthodoxy,  religious  and  social,  but  of  whom 
little  seems  known  with  certainty,  but  that  they  are  indus- 
trious, orderly,  beneficent  and  extraordinarily  successful 
in  all  that  they  undertake — baking,  confectionery,  weaving, 

41 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

photography  and  much  else,  including  the  management  of 
a  large  government  school  for  Moslem  girls,  the  only 
one,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  which  has  ever  been  confided  to 
the  care  of  Christians. 

Owing  to  the  general,  though  surely  not  inevitable,  aliena- 
tion caused  by  differences  of  creed,  nationality  and  language, 
to  the  absence  of  newspapers  and  the  consequent  dependence 
upon  gossip  for  information,  there  are  probably  few  European 
settlements  where  facts  are  liable — in  a  certain  section  of 
the  community — to  distortion  so  gross  as  in  Jerusalem, 
where  the  unknown  is  commonly  taken,  not  for  the  sublime 
but  for  the  discreditable.  For  this  reason  in  speaking  of 
the  American  Colony  of  Overcomers,  I  withhold  all  references 
to  the  unpleasant  accretions  of  scandal  which  have  gathered 
about  them,  mainly,  I  am  bound  to  say,  among  the  English- 
speaking  population  of  the  Holy  City,  for  within  then- 
hospitable  walls  I  have  met  representatives  of  all  that 
makes  "  Society  "  among  the  continental  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem.  The  little  I  am  able  to  relate  concerning  them 
is  at  least  at  first  hand. 

About  the  year  1879,  Mrs.  Spafford,  an  American  lady 
on  her  way  to  Europe  for  the  education  of  her  children, 
saw  her  entire  family  drowned  before  her  eyes.  She  tele- 
graphed to  her  husband  the  pathetic  message,  "  Saved 
alone,"  and  returned  at  once  to  her  desolate  home.  A 
woman  of  sensitive,  restrained  nature,  not  without  a  dash 
of  genius,  and  of  a  naturally  religious  temperament,  the 
tragedy  made  an  ineffaceable  impression  upon  her  very  soul. 
She  believed  that  God,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  had  spared 
her  life  because  He  had  work  for  her  to  do,  and  from  that 
time  forward  she,  her  husband,  and  a  small  group  of  friends 
devoted  their  lives  and  substance  to  the  poor  of  Chicago. 
After  a  time,  however,  this  work  seemed  to  her  an  insufficient 
expenditure  of  her  zeal;  she  believed  that  yet  more  was 
required  of  her,  with  the  result  that  in  1881,  with  a  small 
following,  now  including  two  little  daughters,  the  Spaffords 

42 


"CRANKS"    IN   JERUSALEM 

arrived  in  Jerusalem  giving  themselves  to  work  and 
prayer,  living — theoretically — in  a  Theocratic  Communism, 
knowing  no  Head  but  Christ,  and  no  Law  but  the  Law  of 
Love. 

As  the  community  enlarged,  it  assumed  certain  new 
features.  They  necessarily  increased  their  premises,  and 
to  meet  their  added  requirements  engaged  in  various  trades 
and  occupations  with  a  degree  of  success  to  which  I  have 
already,  more  than  once,  referred.  They  soon  became 
known  as  "  the  Overcomers  "  from  the  motto  which  they 
assumed,  "  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world, 
even  our  faith,"  their  own  designation  of  "  The  American 
Colony  "  having  become  somewhat  inexact,  owing  to  the 
large  proportion  of  admixture  of  other  nations,  mainly 
Swedes  but  including  also  some  English  and  at  least  one 
Scot,  and  one  Hebrew-Christian,  the  Jerusalem  name  for  a 
"  converted  Jew."  1 

Theoretically  their  scheme  of  life  is  one  to  admire  ; 
industrious,  philanthropic,  effective.  Practically  one  can- 
not but  note  certain  extravagances  liable  to  introduce 
an  element  of  danger.  Their  system  may  be  not  inaptly 
described  as  a  parody  of  monasticism.  Their  working 
principles  are  practically  those  of  poverty,  chastity  and 
obedience,  of  holy  simplicity  and  holy  humility,  although 
they  would  themselves  not  so  express  it.  The  condition 
of  poverty  is  that  of  a  common  purse  from  which  each  is 
free  to  take  what  he  or  she  desires,  desire  however  being 
limited  by  the  principle  that  all  wishes  for  earthly  advantage 
must  be  overcome,  again  a  kind  of  parody  on  the  Catholic 
doctrine  of  detachment. 

The  condition  of  chastity  is  not  in  itself  an  end,  but  again 
an  opportunity  to  overcome.  Love  is  of  God,  they  say, 
and  like  the  Love  of  God  must  embrace  all  His  creatures,  and 
that  equally.  Husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  friends, 

1  I  believe  their  present  numbers  to  be  approximately  fifty-five 
Swedes,  thirty-eight  Americans,  and  twenty  of  various  nationalities 

43 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

compatriots,  must  not  look  upon  each  other  as  nearer  or 
dearer  than  other  fellow-beings,  and  therefore,  until  the 
desire  for  intimate  relation  is  overcome,  such  relation  is  of 
the  nature  of  sin.  The  position  strikes  one  as  being  analo- 
gous with  that  of  the  man  who  proposed  in  Lent  to  conceive 
a  desire  for  self-mortification  and  to  proceed  to  mortify 
that  desire.  Marriage  under  such  conditions  is  regarded  as 
at  present  impossible,  although  as  they  progress  towards 
perfection  (and,  presumably,  no  longer  desire  it)  it  may 
conceivably  be  permitted. 

The  condition  of  obedience,  except  to  God  Himself,  is 
one  they  definitely  deny  ;  but  as  each  must  submit  his  will 
to  that  of  his  neighbour  it  follows  that  the  will  of  the  last 
of  the  series  must  be  supreme,  and  unless  appearances  and 
probabilities  are  very  misleading,  the  will  in  question  is 
that  of  Mrs.  Spafford  herself,  who  is  said  to  exercise  an 
influence  by  some  regarded  as  hypnotic. 

The  conditions  of  humility  and  simplicity  are  involved 
in  those  of  a  communal  life  without  regard  to  previous 
social  environment,  and  in  common  labour  for  the  common 
weal.  Naturally,  however,  the  nature  of  the  work  is,  as 
in  conventual  institutions,  apportioned  with  some  reference 
to  individual  fitness,  the  better  educated  occupying 
themselves  with  educational  work,  those  originally  of  the 
working  classes— largely  the  Swedes — performing  the  more 
menial  duties  ;  those  who  understand  commerce  attending 
to  the  shop,  those  who  have  had  manual  training  working 
as  carpenters,  tailors,  dressmakers,  farmers,  and  so  on,  as 
the  case  may  be. 

The  degree  of  influence  which  they  exercise  over  the 
native  population  of  Jerusalem  is,  in  contrast  with  that  of 
other  institutions,  astonishing.  It  is  probably  not  too 
much  to  say  that  among  those  who  frequent  the  colony 
for  instruction  in  language,  music,  painting  and  various 
industries,  there  are  representatives  of  every  creed  and 
every  nation  in  this  modern  Babel  of  Jerusalem.  With 

44 


"CRANKS"    IN    JERUSALEM 

the  exception  of  the  Soeurs  de  Charite,  to  whom  the  Munici- 
pality entrusts  its  hospital,  its  lepers  and  the  visitation  of 
those  who  are  sick  and  in  prison,  they  alone,  of  all  Christians, 
have  won  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  the  Moslems, 
who  not  only  employ  them  professionally  as  managers  of  their 
Public  School,  but  who,  of  all  classes  including  the  Pasha 
himself,  as  well  as  the  effendis  and  officers  in  the  army, 
allow  the  ladies  and  children  of  their  establishments  to 
visit  them  freely,  an  intercourse  which,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  culture  and  of  arts  and  letters,  cannot  fail  to  exercise 
excellent  effect. 

It  is  in  connexion  with  their  success  in  this  direction, 
as  well  as  with  the  exceptional  conditions  of  the  mutual 
relations  of  the  sexes  within  their  walls,  that  their  detrac- 
tors have  mainly  concerned  themselves,  without,  however, 
so  far  as,  after  diligent  inquiry,  I  and  others  have  hitherto 
discovered,  producing  any  first-hand  evidence  of  their 
allegations.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  deny  that  those 
who  desire  occasion  for  the  overcoming  of  temptation  in 
more  than  one  obvious  direction  must  have  abundant  op- 
portunity for  its  exercise,  or  that  to  those  who,  under  the 
circumstances,  rise  superior  to  the  temptations  of  jealousy, 
heart-burning,  disappointment,  humiliation  and  rivalry 
which  their  daily  life  must  abundantly  provide,  we  may 
justly  attribute  a  degree  of  merit  which  should  excite  our 
warmest  admiration  ;  and  this  the  more  that  they  are  with- 
out all  supernatural  help  beyond  that  of  the  Light  that 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  They 
confess  their  sins,  in  public  gatherings,  one  to  another, 
but  have  no  priestly  absolution  ;  they  have  no  sacraments, 
holding  that  in  their  daily  relations  in  the  law  of  love 
every  meal  becomes  a  Eucharistic  feast.  If  on  the  one 
hand  there  is  no  evidence  of  social  irregularity,  if  we 
are  free  to  extol  gratefully  their  liberality,  temperance, 
charity,  brotherly  love  and  diligence,  it  were,  on  the 
other,  vain  to  deny  what  to  the  Catholic  must  appear 

45 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

heresy  both  Arian  and  Gnostic,  and  a  recklessness  of 
danger  which,  to  most  of  us,  must  seem  a  daily  defiance 
of  the  prayer,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
us  from  evil." 


46 


CHAPTER  IV 
GOVERNMENT   IN   JERUSALEM 

ADVANTAGES  OF  TURKISH  RULE — POSITION  OF  EUROPEANS 
— MACHINERY  OF  GOVERNMENT — TURKISH  LAW — 
MOSLEMS — JEWS — SANITATION — PRISONS 

ABUSE  of  the  "  unspeakable  Turk  "  is  as  much  a  recog- 
nized conventionality  as  abuse  of  the  weather,  and 
often  with  about  as  much  understanding  of  the  needs  and 
position  in  question — a  position  which  many  would  do  well 
to  study  in  Jerusalem,  asking  themselves  seriously  and  in- 
telligently what  would  be  best  for  the  Holy  City,  if,  as  seems 
highly  improbable,  the  "  sick  man  "  were  to  die. 

Is  there  any  European  power  which,  for  the  non-Moslem 
population,  would,  to  put  it  mildly,  keep  the  peace  among 
conflicting  religions,  as,  owing  to  its  indifferent  attitude, 
the  Turkish  Government  contrives  more  or  less  to  do  ? 
Would  a  ruler  of  the  Greek  faith  continue  to  the  Latins  the 
unique  privileges  of  then:  position  in  Palestine  ?  Would 
the  followers  of  His  Holiness  tolerate  the  Greeks  ?  Would 
either  endure  the  Protestant  ?  Would  the  Protestants  be 
certain  to  "  play  fair  "  ?  How  would  any  Christian  Power 
regard  the  ever-increasing  importance  of  the  Jews  ?  Would 
the  Jews  themselves  continue  existing  privileges  to  the 
Christians  ?  How  much  individuality,  nationality,  would 
any  or  all  of  these  leave  to  the  indigenous  race  of  the  coun- 
try, compared  with  whom  the  Arab  is  a  mere  mushroom, 
and  the  Hebrew  himself  a  parvenu  ? 

47 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

"  Strange  as  it  may  sound  in  European  ears,"  writes  one 
who  for  nearly  twenty  years  was  British  Consul  for  Jerusa- 
lem and  Palestine,1  "it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  laws 
under  which  Palestine  and  Turkey  are  governed  are,  in 
themselves,  excellent.  They  are  based  upon  the  principles 
of  Justice  and  Humanity — justice  for  true  believers  more 
particularly — humanity  for  all.  .  .  .  With  all  their  incom- 
pleteness it  must  be  said  that  the  regulations  from  Constanti- 
nople are  a  blessing  to  the  inhabitants.  They  are  far  better 
now  than  the  original  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  were  to  the 
Romans  ;  yet  the  Romans  are  regarded  as  the  great  nation 
of  antiquity  characterized  by  the  practice  of  jurisprudence." 
Nevertheless  "  it  is  better  to  be  governed  by  a  good  man  than 
by  good  laws,"  said  the  Greek  philosopher,  a  reflection  which 
is  often  in  one's  mind  in  this  Holy  City  of  Jerusalem  ! 

It  is  at  least  something  to  feel  confidence  in  the  system 
if  not  in  its  administration.  The  existence  of  a  worthy 
ideal  leaves  room  for  ultimate  hope  which  could  scarcely  be 
ours  were  the  case  reversed  ;  and  we  are  at  least  left  free  to 
dream  of  a  time  when  baksheesh,  the  key-note  of  the  lament 
of  Turkish  provinces,  shall  be  no  more.2 

1  See  Stirring  Times,  or  Records  from  Jerusalem  Consular  Chronicles 
of  1853  to   1856,  by  James   Finn.       The  sphere   of  the  Jerusalem 
consul  is  now  considerably  diminished.     In  the  stirring  times  which 
preceded  the    Crimean   war   it   was   a  position  which  counted  for 
something  in  European  politics. 

2  The   Englishman  who  grumbles,   often  justly  enough,   at  the 
occasional  payment  of  baksheesh  to  the  officers  of  the  Municipality 
in  Jerusalem,  should,  however,  remember  not  only  that  he  is  exempt 
from  military  service  and  from  payment  of  rates  and  taxes,  but  that 
in   London,  in  this  year   of   grace,  we   are  paying  an  Income  tax 
of  Is.  3d.  and  a  School  Board  rate  of  over  Is.  2d.  in  the  pound.     He 
may,  moreover,  regard  "  baksheesh  "  as  the  Turkish  equivalent  for 
various  imposts  not  exacted  in  the  Turkish  dominions  ;  licences  for 
armorial  bearings,  carriages  (hackney  carriages  only  are  taxed  by 
the  Municipality),  game,  stamps  on  documents  and  receipts,  succes- 
sion-duties,   liveries,    plate,    bonds,    patent    medicines,    dogs,    gun 
licences,  etc.,  etc.     The  taxes  to   which    the  resident  in  Turkey  is 
subject   are   briefly   enumerated.     Rates   there   are   none.     Taxes, 

48 


GOVERNMENT    IN   JERUSALEM 

Meantime,  to  the  minute  philosopher,  there  are  institu- 
tions in  Jerusalem  more  degrading  to  humanity  than  the 
Turkish  Government,  acquisition  and  expenditure  of  bak- 
sheesh more  dishonest,  bigotry  and  fanaticism  more  un- 
charitable, because,  from  a  Christian  standpoint,  in  defiance 
of  a  higher  culture,  and  in  the  name  of  a  nobler  creed. 

The  European  has  indeed  little  cause  for  complaint.  What 
should  we  say  in  England  if  Turkish  subjects  who  had  oc- 
casion of  dispute  or  who  had  offended  against  the  law  of  the 
realm  declined  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  nearest  magistrate, 
to  accept  judgment  from  British  authority,  and  insisted 
on  taking  the  case  before  their  own  representative  in  Bryan- 
ston  Square  ? 

Yet  permission  for  such  procedure  and  not  fine  or  im- 
prisonment for  contempt  of  court  is  granted  to  us  by  Tur- 
kish courtesy  in  the  Holy  Land.  Europeans  refer  all  ques- 
tions of  law  to  their  respective  consuls  ;  a  dispute  between 
two  Englishmen  would  be  tried  before  the  British  Consul, 
between  an  Englishman  and  a  German  before  the  consul  of 
the  plaintiff,  the  interests  of  the  defendant  being  watched 
over  by  the  dragoman  of  his  own  Consulate,  who,  if  not  the 
lawyer  one  would  wish  for  under  the  circumstances,  would 
at  least  (except  in  the  case  of  an  Englishman  or  American) 
be  of  his  own  nationality.  If  between  an  Englishman  and 
a  Moslem,  it  would  be  tried  by  the  Turkish  authorities, 
the  consul  having  the  right  to  watch  the  case,  cross-examine 
witnesses,  and  secure  for  his  protege  the  full  benefit  of  the 

within  the  City  of  Jerusalem,  none.  Outside,  on  house  and  land 
property,  less  than  one  per  cent.,  always  paid  by  the  landlord.  Cer- 
tain lands,  not  so  taxed,  pay  a  tithe  on  production,  or  on  what  they 
carry  ;  for  sheep  and  goats  about  1\d.  per  head  ;  on  beasts  of  burden 
nothing,  except  when  sold,  when  5d.  per  head  is  charged  on  camels, 
asses,  oxen,  and  horses.  Succession-duty  is  about  Id  in  the  shilling. 
Exoneration  from  military  service  about  8s.  per  annum.  Duty  on 
imports  8  per  cent.,  on  exports  10  per  cent.  Licences  are  required 
to  let  carriages,  and  to  sell  stamps,  tobacco  and  spirits.  Here  at 
\east  there  is  small  cause  for  complaint  !. 

49,  a 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Moslem  law.  The  exercise  of  such  judicial  functions,  on  the 
part  of  the  consul,  is,  of  course,  unknown  in  any  Christian 
country  ;  it  is  only  in  Turkey,  China,  and  Morocco  that 
foreigners  have  the  right  of  being  governed  by  their  own 
laws,  with  which,  let  us  suppose,  for  sake  of  argument,  that 
their  consuls  are  acquainted. 

The  machinery  of  the  Turkish  Government  in  Jerusalem 
is  controlled,  primarily,  by  the  Pasha,  who  is  appointed  from 
Constantinople.  He  is  assisted  by  a  municipal  Council 
(Majless),  composed  of  five  or  six  Moslems,  a  Latin,  a  Greek, 
an  Armenian  and  a  Jew  ;  thus  representing,  in  very  fair 
proportions,  all  of  the  Sultan's  subjects  except  the  Protes- 
tants, which,  numerically,  are  indeed  a  quantity  which  may 
safely  be  neglected,  though  one  would  have  supposed  that 
the  two  Protestant  powers,  England  and  Germany,  would 
have  sought  representation  for  those  of  their  own  religion, 
England  as  having  the  oldest-established  European  Consu- 
late,1 Germany  on  account  of  her  importance  in  Syria  in 
commerce,  agriculture,  and  navigation. 

The  Government  has  in  Jerusalem  officers  corresponding, 
among  others,  with  our  Secretary  of  State  (Directeur  des 
Correspondences)  ;  Charity  Commissioners  (Comptable  des 
Legs-pies) ;  Minister  of  Education  (Directeur  de  Vinstruc- 
tion  publique)  ;  Registrar- General  (Directeur  du  Registre 
Imperial)  ;  Minister  of  Finance  (Caissier)  ;  Minister  of 
Agriculture  (Chef-succursal  d*  Agriculture),  and  in  some  de- 
gree of  Lord  Chancellor  (Directeur  de  la  caisse  des  orphelins). 
The  Municipality  has  also  its  medical  and  veterinary  de- 
partments, its  hospital  and  dispensary,  and,  of  course,  its 
police,  of  which  the  discipline,  on  public  occasions,  is  ad- 
mirable, though  the  custom  among  the  night-watchmen 
of  sounding  a  whistle  as  signal  to  each  other,  is  little  less 
preposterous  than  were  the  noisy  boots,  until  very  few  years 

1  The  English  Consulate  was  established  in  1838,  the  Prussian 
in  1841 ;  France  and  Sardinia  came  in  1843. 

50 


GOVERNMENT   IN   JERUSALEM 

ago,  worn  by  the  town  police  of  Great  Britain.  The  new 
comer  in  Jerusalem  is  sometimes  surprised  by  the  scanty 
number  of  police-officers,  until  further  knowledge  of  the 
country  reveals  to  him  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  practically 
entire  absence  of  public  drunkenness  and  public  immorality, 
to  the  almost  entire  impossibility,  within  the  walls,  of  vehi- 
cular traffic,  and  to  the  minimized  danger  from  fire  where 
wood  is  barely  used  in  construction,  their  services  are  but 
little  needed.  Soldiers  and  tax-officers  are  to  be  found  at/ 
every  gate  of  the  city,  and  those  bringing  in  goods  are  liable 
to  payment  of  various  tolls. 

The  law  of  the  Turkish  courts  is  technically  the  law  of  the 
Koran,  but,  as  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  has  pointed  out, 
"  The  Koran  is  far  from  being  that  inelastic  code  of  laws 
which  many  suppose.  It  has  long  ceased  to  be  an  exact 
mirror  of  Islamism  as  practised  by  the  Ottoman  authorities." 
It  appears,  however,  that  the  principles  of  the  Koran  and  its 
commentaries  are  those  which  direct  the  advice  and  opinions 
of  the  Mufti,  who  is  something  between  an  archbishop  and  a 
consulting  barrister,  who,  learned  in  the  sacred  books, 
presides  in  a  sort  of  Court  of  Arches,  and  deals  out  abstract 
justice  to  John  Doe  and  Richard  Roe,  or,  as  they  are  called 
in  the  East,  Zaid  and  Omar.  As  only  fictitious  cases  are 
brought  before  him,  he  cannot  exact  payment  on  results 
like  the  Kadi,  a  judge  of  a  more  practical  kind,  and  is  there- 
fore less  likely  to  be  affected  by  interest,  prejudice,  or  bak- 
sheesh. The  Kadi  presides  over  the  Mahkameh,  or  Court  of 
Civil  Law,  and  receives  three  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  the 
suit,  paid  by  the  one  in  whose  favour  the  judgment  is  given. 

Trial  by  jury  is  unknown,  but  many  cases  are  brought 
before  the  Majless,  an  assembly  usually  of  ten  or  twelve,  who 
decide  in  conformity  with  the  code  of  Secular  Jurisprudence, 
as  distinguished  from  the  Koran. 

Jerusalem  is  defended  by  a  garrison  averaging  from  one 
thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  men,  military  service  being 
compulsory,  as  in  most  European  countries  ;  Jews  and 

51 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Christians  who  are  Turkish  subjects  pay  a  commutation 
poll-tax  of  less  than  eight  shillings  per  head. 

It  is  in  many  respects  upon  the  Moslem  population  that 
the  Turkish  yoke  presses  most  heavily.  Their  position  is 
somewhat  anomalous.  On  the  one  hand  the  Supreme  Head 
of  the  State  de  facto  or  de  jure  is  the  successor  of  the  Prophet 
and  the  Caliph — vice-regent  of  God — and  to  obey  him  is  a 
religious  duty.  On  the  other,  to  the  Syrians,  the  Turk  is, 
equally  with  the  Arab  or  the  Hebrew,  an  alien,  a  perpetual 
reminder  that  they  are  a  conquered  race  ;  while  to  the  Arab 
he  is  the  descendant  of  the  Tartar  conquerors  of  Arabistan, 
the  representative  of  the  modern  reform  which  is  a  perplexity 
to  their  faith — a  departure  from  the  pure  Moslemism  of  the 
Koran. 

The  Jew,  like  the  European  under  consular  protection,  has 
his  special  privileges.  The  Chief  Rabbi  ranks  next  to  the 
Pasha,  and  is  always  presented  with  a  key  of  the  city  gates 
when  a  new  Sultan  comes  to  the  throne.  The  key  is  associ- 
ated with  a  religious  ceremonial,  and  is  blessed  and  anointed 
with  oil  and  spices.  Accounts  differ  as  to  whether  its  pos- 
session is  permanent,  but  it  would  seem  unlikely,  otherwise 
why  should  the  presentation  be  renewed  ?  As  large  bak- 
sheesh is  paid  for  what  seems,  if  temporary  only,  a  useless 
privilege,  one  must  conclude  that  there  is  for  the  Jews 
some  esoteric  signification,  some  allusion  to  the  repossession 
of  the  city  of  their  forefathers  ;  some  prophetic  gratification, 
in  the  process  of  its  return,  of,  as  it  were,  bestowing  it  upon 
the  Turkish  authorities  ;  some  symbolic  satisfaction  in 
being,  if  only  for  the  moment,  in  virtual  command  of  the 
situation.  One  cannot  but  feel  glad  that  they  should  find 
consolation  in  so  small  and  temporary  a  distinction  ;  for 
even  now,  in,  comparatively  speaking,  the  days  of  their 
prosperity,  when  Jerusalem,  as  a  city,  is  in  many  respects 
so  much  benefited  by  their  presence,  they  have  many 
inevitable  humiliations.  Jewish  children,  girls  especially, 
have  to  be  protected  mainly  from  other  children,  Christian 

52 


GOVERNMENT    IN   JERUSALEM 

and  Moslem,  on  the  way  to  and  from  school ;  one  frequently 
wonders  at  the  patience — the  heritage  of  centuries — with 
which  Jews  ignore  the  insults  shouted  after  them  in  the 
streets ;  and,  considering  how  much  they  contribute  as 
citizens  to  the  welfare  of  Jerusalem,  it  is  sad  that  large  sums 
of  money  should  be  paid  for  permission  to  pray  beside  the 
western  wall  of  the  Temple  enclosure,  to  the  villagers  of 
Siloam  for  not  disturbing  the  graves  east  of  the  village,  and 
to  the  Arabs  for  letting  alone  the  Jewish  share  of  the  Tomb 
of  Rachel  on  the  road  to  Bethlehem. 

The  Chief  Rabbi  is,  moreover,  the  supreme  judge  of  the 
Beth  Been,  their  "  House  of  Judgment,"  in  which  disputes 
between  Jews  are  decided  and  wrongs  redressed.  For  all 
questions,  other  than  those  which  can  be  referred  to  a  re- 
ligious tribunal,  the  Jew,  as  a  European,  must  refer  to  the 
consul  of  the  country  to  which  he  belongs,  who  will  decide 
his  quarrel  if  with  one  of  his  own  nationality,  or  watch 
his  case  in  the  Serai  if  his  dispute  be  with  a  Moslem. 

The  municipal  authorities  are  intermittently  active  in 
matters  of  sanitation.  It  is  an  immense  advantage  to 
Jerusalem  that,  with  the  exception  of  what  amounts  to 
half  a  dozen  scullery  taps  supplied  from  what  are  called 
the  Pools  of  Solomon,  alleged  to  be  much  older  than  that 
monarch,  the  city  has  no  common  water-supply,  so  that 
general  contamination  from  infected  sources  is  practically 
impossible.  Each  institution,  group  of  houses,  in  the  better 
parts  each  house,  provides  for  its  own  collection  of  rain- 
water— there  is  no  other,  and  one  has  to  live  in  Palestine  to 
appreciate  the  constant  Bible  references  to  cisterns,  to  the 
blindness  of  the  people  "  who  hewed  them  out  cisterns, 
broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no  water  !  "  Probably  it 
was  largely  to  the  nature  of  her  water-supply  and  to  her 
elevated  position  (from  2,500  to  3,000  feet  above  sea-level) 
that  the  city  owed  her  immunity  from  cholera  in  1902-3, 
when  many  villages  around  were  suffering,  and  extraneous 
cases  were  even  brought  into  the  town.  But  it  is  only  fair 

53 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

to  record  the  activity  of  the  town  council ;  the  beggars  were 
returned  to  their  own  villages,  houses  were  compulsorily 
cleaned  and  whitewashed,  fines  for  accumulation  of  decay- 
ing matter  inflicted,  and  the  streets  sprayed  with  a  dilution 
of  carbolic  acid.  The  Moslem  public  schools  were  closed, 
an  example  promptly  followed  by  the  C.M.S,  although  the 
schools  of  the  L.J.S.,  the  Anglican  schools  of  St.  George's, 
and  those  of  the  Jews,  Greeks,  Latins,  Armenians  and  Ger- 
mans kept  open  doors  with  no  ill  effects,  and  with,  in  many 
cases,  large  additions  to  their  numbers,  as  parents  were 
naturally  thankful  to  have  their  children  removed  from  the 
risks,  mental  and  physical,  of  over  six  months'  idleness,  and 
the  dangers  of  street  life.  The  efforts  of  the  Government 
were  ably  seconded  in  certain  directions.  The  Jews  and 
some  of  the  continental  consuls  issued  sanitary  directions  to 
every  householder  with  whom  they  were  concerned  ;  and 
some,  especially  the  Jews  and  the  Russians  (for  orderliness 
and  sanitation  Russia  has  no  rival  in  Jerusalem),  made  ad- 
mirable preparations  for  their  own  people  so  as  to  be  ready 
to  deal  with  the  enemy  at  a  moment's  notice. 

There  is  one  Government  institution  in  Jerusalem  which 
it  would  be  easy,  rather  perhaps  than  fair,  to  condemn  as  an 
almost  unmixed  evil,  and  that  is  the  prison,  which,  however, 
it  is  alleged,  is  under  consideration  with  a  view  to  funda- 
mental changes.  The  prisoners  are  so  unsuitably  housed, 
their  condition  is  so  insanitary,  their  classification,  or  rather 
their  aggregation,  so  disorderly,  they  are  subject  to  so  much 
extortion,  they  are  so  dependent  upon  the  alms  of  the 
benevolent  or  the  support  of  their  friends,  that  one  is 
forcibly  reminded  of  our  own  Fleet  or  Marshalsea,  as  depicted 
by  Dickens  or  Besant,  although  those  of  Jerusalem  are, 
happily,  owing  to  abundance  of  outer  air,  and  the  seclusion 
of  women,  less  of  a  disgrace  to  civilization  than  those  of 
our  own  country,  as  described  by  John  Howard  or 
Elizabeth  Fry. 

54 


CHAPTER  V 
JEWS   IN   JERUSALEM 

POPULATION — DISTRIBUTION  —  RACIAL  DIVISIONS  —  DIS- 
TINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS — IRRATIONAL  ALMSGIVING 
— SCHOOLS — OCCUPATIONS — OLD  CUSTOMS  STILL  EX- 
TANT —  SOPHISTRIES  AND  [QUIBBLES  —  ALLIANCE 
ISRAELITE — ITS  EXCELLENT  WORK — MISSION  WORK 
AND  RESULTS — VIEWS  OF  ZANGWILL — CHARITABLE 
INSTITUTIONS,  ENGLISH  AND  JEWISH — ABRAHAM'S 
VINEYARD — RELATIONS  WITH  JERUSALEM — PROGRESS 
OF  RE-PATRIATION 

THIS  chapter  aims  at  no  criticism  of  Zionism  or  other 
movement  on  behalf  of  the  Jews  of  Palestine  ;  it  is 
not  inspired  by  teachings  of  Hertzl  or  Nordau  on  the  one 
hand,  or  of  Reich  or  Zangwill  on  the  other.  It  is  perhaps 
even  fair  to  say  that  it  proceeds  less  from  any  personal  ad- 
miration or  affection  for  the  people  with  whom  it  deals  than 
from  respect  for  their  genius,  sympathy  with  their  sufferings, 
and  appreciation  of  their  achievements. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  think  of  the  modern  Jew  as  a 
recent  immigrant  to  Palestine  that  it  is  somewhat  surprising 
to  find  that  Jerusalem  is  virtually  a  Jewish  city.  Out  of 
about  60,000  inhabitants  some  40,000  are  Jews;  a  large  part 
of  the  trade  of  the  town  is  in  their  hands  ;  not  only  have 
they  overflowed  in  all  directions  their  own  quarter  within 
the  walls,  but  they  have  established  themselves  in  various 
colonies,  amounting  to  some  half-dozen  villages  all  within  a 
mile  or  so  from  the  city  gates.  The  Jewish  population  is  said 
to  have  increased  tenfold  or  more  in  sixty  years.  From 

55 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

the  religious  point  of  view  it  includes  the  Orthodox  or 
Rabbinists,  who  are  far  the  most  numerous,  the  Chasidim 
or  Cabalists,  and  the  Karaites,  a  very  small  body  who 
study  the  Scriptures  only.  From  the  national  point  of 
view  they  may  be  divided  roughly  into  ( 1 )  Ashkenazim,  who 
speak  mainly  Yiddish,  a  jargon  composed  of  German  and 
Hebrew,  and  who  are  mostly  Germans,  Poles,  Russians  and 
Roumanians ;  and  (2)  Sephardim,  who  speak  mainly  Spanish, 
and  who  come  from  the  south-west  of  Europe.  There  are 
Jews  also,  from  Yemen  in  Arabia,  from  Africa,  from  Persia, 
from  England  and  France,  and  a  considerable  number 
from  America,  whither  they  go  for  just  sufficient  time 
to  get  naturalized. 

For  the  practical  purpose  of  studying  their  institutions, 
however,  one  may  divide  them  into  three  groups  :  (1)  the 
Students  of  the  Law,  whose  raison  d'etre  is  wholly  religious, 
who  look  upon  Jerusalem  as  the  Sacred  City,  in  which  all 
occupations  are  irrelevant ;  (2)  the  Alliance  Israelite,  French 
>  in  origin  and  management,  to  whom  Jerusalem  is  the  Aus- 
•  tralia  of  the  Jews,  a  happy  hunting-ground,  a  career,  a  com- 
mercial enterprise ;  and  (3)  the  Anglo- Jewish  Association, 
which  is  its  English  equivalent,  with  a  considerable  element 
of  orthodoxy,  and  as  much  religion  as  is  consistent  with 
some  defiance  of  rabbinical  prejudice  ;  even,  in  the  case  of 
its  most  important  institution  (the  Evelina  de  Rothschild 
Girls'  School),  of  actual  excommunication. 

The  Chief  Rabbi  takes  rank  next  to  the  Sultan  himself, 
and  the  tendency  of  the  Jews  being,  naturally  enough, 
to  centralization  and  self-government,  they  form  a  distinct 
community,  never  for  any  purpose  amalgamating  with  any 
other,  separate  in  locality,  in  religion,  and  in  custom.1 

1  A  touching  illustration  of  the  strong  national  feeling  of  the  Jews 
occurs  incidentally  in  the  account  by  Consul  Finn  of  a  visit  paid  to 
Sir  Moses  Montefiore  in  Jerusalem  by  certain  Rabbis.  "  Are  we 
to  speak  in  a  language  of  the  Gentiles  ?  "  they  asked  of  his  secretary, 
Dr.  Loewe.  "  No  ;  but  in  our  own  language,"  was  the  reply. 

56 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

One  soon  gets  rid  of  the  English  superstition  that  a  Jew  is 
known  by  his  nose,  the  only  "  Jewish  "  nose  I  have  seen  in 
Jerusalem  being  attended  by  a  cockney  accent ;  but  other 
marks  of  difference  remain,  as,  for  example,  the  side  curls 
worn  by  most  of  the  Ashkenazim,  in  literal  obedience  to  the 
precept,  "  Ye  shall  not  round  the  corners  of  your  beard  "  ; 
— so,  too,  in  the  case  of  the  Russian  Jewess,  the  wearing  of 
the  wig.  The  married  woman,  "  uncovered,  dishonoureth 
her  head,"  and  it  was  as  a  mark  of  dishonour  that  the  Jew- 
esses of  Russia  were  forbidden  to  wear  the  veil  or  shawl  or 
opaque  net  common  elsewhere,  and  took  to  wigs  in  conse- 
quence ;  so,  too,  the  fur  cap,  originally  an  insulting  dis- 
tinction, now — accompanied  by  the  long  coat,  often  of  plush 
bordered  with  fur — the  voluntary  costume  of  the  Ash- 
kenazim of  Jerusalem.  These  are  perhaps  the  most  un- 
satisfactory members  of  the  Jewish  population,  certainly 
the  most  dirty  and  unattractive.  There  is  a  theory  that 
they  are  descended  from  Issachar,  who  was  a  student, 
whereas  Zebulun  was  a  merchant,  and  it  is  largely  from  them 
that  the  Talmudists,  the  modern  Pharisees,  the  true  ob- 
structionists of  Jewish  progress,  are  drawn. 

Zangwill  has  somewhere  the  phrase,  speaking  of  the  Jews, 
"  the  rich  gave  unscrupulously,"  and  it  is  perhaps  no  figure 
of  speech  to  say  that  unscrupulous  charity  has  been  the 
modern  curse  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  owing  to  the  irrational 
almsgiving,  to  the  system  of  vicarious  pilgrimage,  that, 
among  other  evils,  this  class  of  obstructionists  has  been 
fostered.  Their  theory  is,  that  Jerusalem  is  a  place  for 
study  and  that  those  who  are  able  and  prepared  to  give  them- 
selves exclusively  to  meditation  on  the  Law,  should  carry 
out  this  duty  on  behalf  of  those  who  are  otherwise  occupied. 
The  money,  sent  in  immense  quantities  to  Jerusalem,  is 
regarded  as  tribute,  and  excites  not  the  smallest  gratitude. 
It  is  collected  by  special  agents  known  as  the  Sheluchim, 
who,  it  is  said,  receive  forty  per  cent.  Mr.  Montague1 
1  Jewish  Life  in  the  East. 
57 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Samuel  quotes  the  case  of  one  such  agent  who  had  enjoyed 
a  tour  of  two  years  and  pocketed  £5,200.  This  tribute  or 
haluka  is  a  powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Rabbis, 
and  those  engaged  in  education  have  a  hard  struggle  to 
keep  the  schools  open  at  the  time  of  distribution,  as  haluka 
is  often  refused  to  those  known  to  be  "  progressive  "  in 
whatever  direction.  Even  when  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  sent 
money  that  those  in  the  Torah  or  Law  Schools  might  learn 
Arabic,  the  vernacular  of  Jerusalem,  it  was  returned  to  him 
as  a  mere  temptation  to  distraction.  The  language  en- 
couraged is  the  Yiddish,  which  those  engaged  in  education 
are  trying  so  hard  to  eliminate.  The  Talmudic  Schools 
cluster  round  the  Ashkenazim  Synagogue,  and  number 
some  hundreds  of  boys  from  five  to  fifteen  years  of  age. 
Their  instruction  is  limited  to  the  reading  of  Isaiah,  Pro- 
verbs, Job  and  Daniel,  with  the  Talmudic  or  oral  law,  upon 
which  they  meditate  while  violently  rocking  themselves 
backwards  and  forwards  in  conformity  with  the  text,  "All 
my  bones  shall  praise  the  Lord."  It  would  be  interesting  to 
inquire  how  far  this  custom,  also  practised  by  the  Moham- 
medans, is  of  purely  oriental  origin,  and  how  far  the  expla- 
nation is  an  afterthought,  after  the  manner  of  folklore. 

The  evils  of  the  magnificent,  if  somewhat  "  unscrupulous," 
charity  which  has  been  so  conspicuous  in  Jerusalem,  have 
of  late  become  abundantly  obvious,  sometimes  in  directions 
upon  which  it  would  be  painful  to  insist.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  in  the  year  1900  Baron  Edmund  de  Rothschild,  whose 
munificence  to  his  co-religionists  is  well  known  to  all  inter- 
ested in  the  question  of  Jews  in  Palestine,  set  the  example 
of  withdrawing  his  colonies  from  private  management  and 
of  transferring  them  to  the  care  of  the  Colonization 
Association.  It  is  hoped  that  under  the  added  impetus 
of  divided  responsibility,  and  regard  for  public  feeling,  a 
higher  standard  of  morality,  not  only  financial,  but  social, 
may  be  achieved. 

The  question  of  the  agricultural  colonies  does  not  arise 

58 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

in  connexion  with  the  Jew  in  Jerusalem,  but  we  may  say, 
in  passing,  that  they  are  a  valuable  adjunct  to  other  edu- 
cational effort,  and  that  they  help  to  provide  an  answer  to 
the  increasingly  difficult  problem  of  the  ultimate  destiny  of 
the  girls  and  boys  now  being  trained  and  stimulated  to  as- 
pirations and  ambitions  which,  at  this  period  of  transition, 
may  be  hard  to  satisfy.  To  ordinary  agricultural  work 
extending  over  at  least  70,000  acres  of  land,  the  colonists 
have  now  added  such  occupations  as  floriculture,  perfume 
distilleries,  soap-making,  apiculture,  cattle-breeding,  fruit- 
preserving,  tobacco-growing,  silk-worm  cultivation,  wine- 
making  and  poultry-keeping. 

Of  certain  customs  kept  alive  under  the  influences  of  the 
Talmudists  one  can  think  only  with  respect.  One  is  interested 
to  note  that,  in  reminder  of  the  Temple  destroyed,  no  house 
is  ever  entirely  finished  ;  one  stone  at  least  is  left  unplastered 
and  shows  conspicuous  in  its  native  baseness  in  some  promi- 
nent part  of  hall  or  chamber.  So  too  in  some,  if  not  all  of 
the  agricultural  colonies,  the  priest's  portion  of  one  per  cent, 
of  the  garden,  is  still  set  aside,  but  as  there  are  now  no  priests 
technically  pure  to  receive  it,  it  is  annually  buried  in  the 
ground  ;  moreover,  no  fruit  is  gathered  from  a  tree  during 
its  first  three  years  of  blossoming.  Again,  it  is  an  interesting 
reminder  to  Jew  and  Christian  alike,  that  on  every  road 
as  one  goes  out  from  Jerusalem,  at  a  distance  of  2,000  yards  ; 
from  the  city  gate,  one  passes  beneath  a  wire  supported 
by  two  posts  to  mark  the  limit  of  the  Sabbath  day's 
journey.  It  is  less  pleasing,  but  not  uncharacteristic 
of  place  and  people,  to  find  how  this,  among  other  rules,  is 
evaded  by  means  of  a  religious  fiction  called  eruhh,  that 
is,  mixture  or  connexion  of  places.  Such  fictions  occupy 
ten  chapters  of  the  Seder  Moed,  and  are  ascribed  to 
Solomon.  It  is  not  unusual  for  Jews  to  deposit  food  on 
the  previous  evening  at  places  2,000  yards  apart  on  the 
route  they  desire  to  follow,  thus  establishing  a  series  of 
fictitious  homes  ;  or  they  will  set  up  doorposts  or  lintel 

59 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

at  the  end  of  the  street,  thus  creating  the  fiction  that  the 
street  is  all  one  house. 

The  story  is  told,  that  not  long  ago,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
visit  on  the  Sabbath  of  an  illustrious  person  whom  the 
Jews  were  anxious  to  honour,  they  circumvented  the 
difficulty  of  going  out  to  meet  him,  by  making  a  wooden 
gateway  which  they  pushed  before  them,  thus  fictitiously 
remaining  in  the  city  all  the  time. 

It  is  said  that  before  the  present  definite  stand  was  made 
in  the  interests  of  education,  the  rabbis  would  forbid  the 
teaching  of  certain  subjects  upon  the  most  frivolous  pre- 
texts ;  French  for  example  because  in  conjugating  the  verbs 
savoir  and  se  marier  the  student  must  repeat  j'ai  su  and 
various  forms  of  marie,  which  would  familiarize  him  with 
the  names  Jesu  and  Marie  ;  or  geography  because  of  the 
names  of  saints  involved  in  dealing  with  such  towns  as 
St.  Petersburg,  San  Francisco,  etc.  ;  or  arithmetic,  because 
the  signs  of  multiplication  and  addition  were  those  of  the 
cross.  Such  a  story  would  seem  incredible  if  it  were  not  that 
in  the  year  of  grace,  1902,  the  Evelina  de  Rothschild  School 
was  forbidden  to  fly  the  Union  Jack  in  honour  of  the  Coro- 
nation of  King  Edward,  not  because  it  was  English,  but 
because  it  bore  the  cross,  and  they  must  needs  compromise, 
in  defiance  of  etiquette  by  the  way,  by  using  the  royal 
standard  ! 

The  study  of  the  Jew  in  Jerusalem  is  the  study  of  anoma- 
lies and  anachronisms.  Side  by  side  with  the  observance  of 
Levitical  precepts  and  Pharisaic  interpretation  we  have  so 
up  to  date  an  institution  as  the  Alliance  Israelite  with  its 
essentially  French  atmosphere,  and  its  inherent  modernness. 

Its  immense  buildings  stand  within  a  stone's  throw  of  a 
quaint  relic  of  the  earlier  days  of  Jewish  immigration,  before 
the  various  recent  building  societies  and  admirably  organized 
villages  were  established.  This  is  the  curious  Box  Colony, 
so  called  because  literally  built  of  old  boxes,  mainly  the  tin 
boxes  which  contain  petroleum,  and  the  wooden  cases  in 

60 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

which  these  tins  are  packed.  By  degrees,  however,  the 
occupants,  many  of  them  Persians,  others  Yemenites,  an 
industrious  and  orderly  community,  are  moving  into  neat 
red- tiled  houses,  many  close  by,  others  in  a  more  distant 
suburb  known  as  the  Colony  of  the  Hundred  Gates. 

Founded  in  1860  for  the  protection  and  secular  advance- 
ment of  the  Jews,  in  1871  the  Alliance  connected  itself  with 
the  Anglo-Jewish  Association,  and  about  the  same  period 
founded  perhaps  the  first  of  the  Agricultural  colonies  of 
Palestine,  the  very  successful  Farm  School  of  Jaffa  which 
has  between  two  and  three  hundred  resident  students,  and 
which,  after  payment  of  all  expenses,  makes  a  profit  of  over 
£1,000  per  annum.  The  Farm  School  of  Djedeida,  though 
later  in  origin,  seems,  in  its  degree,  equally  successful  and 
already  numbers  over  a  hundred  students. 

The  immense  but  strictly  utilitarian  buildings  of  the 
Alliance  are  surrounded  by  what  will  shortly  be  a  forest  of 
olive  and  eucalyptus  trees,  in  itself  a  fact  of  real  sanitary 
importance  to  the  neighbourhood.  Everything  is  of  the  best 
and  most  modern,  but  everywhere  one  notices  what  is  not 
too  common  in  Jerusalem,  the  care  with  which  public  money 
has  been  expended.  The  scrupulous  cleanliness  and  order, 
the  presence  of  trees  and  flowers,  and  the  abundance  of 
fresh  air  and  even,  what  is  here  more  difficult  to  obtain,  of 
fresh  water,  are  the  points  which  first  strike  the  attention 
of  the  visitor,  who  can  do  little  more  than  enumerate  his 
after  sensations  and  surprises. 

We  are  taken  to  the  carpenters'  shops,  where  cabinet- 
making  and  joinery  of  every  kind  is  in  progress  ;  to  the  metal 
workshops,  where  "  beaten "  work  is  being  carried  on ; 
where  a  round  plate  of  copper,  from  England,  is  by  degrees 
beaten  into  a  graceful  coffee  pot  which  would  be  an  orna- 
ment to  any  studio  ;  to  the  forge,  where  wrought  ironwork 
(of  the  designing  of  which  we  learn  more  later)  is  being 
carefully  copied  from  drawings  to  which  the  apprentices 
constantly  refer  ;  to  the  blacksmith's,  where  rows  of  lads  are 

61 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

making  the  tools  required  by  their  companions  in  other  trades, 
and  where  we  are  shown  a  motor-engine,  the  first  piece  of 
such  machinery  brought  into  Jerusalem.  Passing  across  a 
shady  courtyard,  and  one  must  live  in  this  country  to  know 
how  rare  a  luxury  this  is,  we  enter  a  huge  workshop  where  one 
or  two  carts  and  carriages  are  being  repaired,  the  one  branch 
of  industry  which  has  not  been  a  success,  because  few  people 
own  carriages  in  Jerusalem,  and  those  from  whom  they  are 
hired  have  some  reluctance  in  paying  for  their  manufacture 
and  repair,  while,  unlike  other  articles,  they  are  not  adapted 
for  export. 

Mounting  to  an  upper  floor  we  reach  what  may  be  called 
the  nursery  of  other  trades — the  admirable  Art  Schools 
where  drawing  and  modelling  are  taught  and  the  designs 
made  from  which  those  below  are  working.  Here, 
we  are  told,  are  no  Moslems  ;  elsewhere  we  have  found 
those  of  all  races  and  religions  except  the  Ashkenazim 
Jew,  as  we  soon  inferred  from  the  absence  of  side 
curls.  The  Moslem,  even  when  emancipated  enough  to 
defy  the  prohibition  to  make  images,  has,  we  learn, 
no  turn  for  Art,  an  interesting  contribution  to  the 
study  of  heredity.  Here  are  rows  of  lads  carving  in  wood 
and  stone  from  models  in  clay,  as  well  as  from  the  round  and 
the  flat — chairs,  panels,  decorative  groups  and  friezes.  We 
are  shown  the  model  of  two  camels,  one  erect,  the  other 
kneeling,  copied  first  in  clay  from  nature,  accurate  in 
measurement  and  proportion,  the  hundredth  part  of  life- 
size,  perfect  in  anatomy  and  the  reproduction  of  muscle, 
and  attitude — one  had  almost  said  gesture.  Would  that 
the  tourists  who  keep  alive  the  trade  in  the  olive-wood 
abominations  thrust  upon  their  notice  in  the  city,  could 
contrast  their  "  camel-shaped  "  glove-boxes  and  inkstands 
with  so  real  a  work  of  art  as  these  ! 

In  a  further  room  lads  are  drawing — working  out  prob- 
lems in  mechanics  and  engineering,  or  reproducing  types  of 
architecture,  some  from  models,  some  working  only  with 

62 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

the  assistance  of  a  note-book.  Dante,  Venus,  Apollo,  the 
young  Augustus,  look  down  familiarly  from  the  walls — 
never  in  all  their  wanderings  perhaps  have  they  found  them- 
selves in  surroundings  more  unexpected  than  these  !  For 
two  hours  every  day  all  must  study  here  whose  work  is  of  the 
nature  of  designing,  or  even  of  copying  designs,  and  the 
enthusiastic  Russian  artist  who  moves  briskly  among  the 
lads  seems  to  have  inspired  them  with  true  reverence  for 
Art. 

In  another  building  we  find  a  new  experiment,  not  of  the 
Alliance  but  of  the  Jewish  Colonization  Association,  housed 
here  for  the  moment.  This  is  the  weaving  of  cotton  and 
linen  fabrics,  curtains,  covers  for  the  ever  present  divan, 
and  a  thinner  material,  [usually  striped,  used  for  the 
Kumbaz,  the  Arab  dress,  worn  by  men  all  over  the 
country,  a  material  excellent  in  colouring,  wear  and 
texture,  and  which  "no  family  should  be  without."  At 
present  they  have  not  undertaken  dye-work,  an  industry 
very  rudimentary  in  Jerusalem,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
this  too  will  be  added  to  their  enterprises. 

Again  descending,  and  leaving  to  our  left  the  as  yet  un- 
finished technical  school  for  girls,  we  pass  through  further 
plantations  of  olives,  firs,  and  eucalyptus,  and  look  in  at  the 
great  dining-hall,  where  200  poor  boys  are  fed  daily,  on  the 
theory,  not  always  observed  at  home,  that  unless  a  child  eat, 
neither  shall  he  work.  Most  of  these  are  also  clothed  and 
provided  with  shoes  by  the  Alliance.  We  pass  also  the 
gymnasium,  and  enter  the  school-building,  which,  alike  in 
its  economy  and  its  liberality,  would  shame  many  of  our 
most  vaunted  institutions  at  home.  It  is  calculated  to  hold 
a  thousand  students,  but  only  a  part  of  it  is  as  yet  in  use. 
French  is  the  universal  language  ;  Hebrew  also  is  spoken ; 
"  jargon  "  is  forbidden.  Arabic,  the  vernacular,  is  taught, 
and  also  Turkish,  the  official  language.  There  are  repre- 
sentatives of  every  religion,  and  of  every  class,  from  the 
son  of  the  Pasha  to  the  two  hundred,  who  in  orderly  rank 

63 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

are  being  led  down  below  to  dine.  Out  of  the  368  in  the 
school,  67  are  paying  pupils.  They  are  just  dispersing,  and 
we  have  no  opportunity  for  observing  more  than  the  order 
and  cleanliness  of  the  arrangements,  and  the  perfection  of 
schoolroom  apparatus. 

Little  can  we  wonder  that,  as  the  headmaster  expresses 
it,  the  Rabbis  "  make  war  on  the  Alliance,"  which  is  truly 
opposed  in  all  its  working  to  the  obstructionist  principles 
of  the  Ashkenazim.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  students 
are  taken — so  far  as  the  Jewish  element  is  concerned — almost 
exclusively  from  the  Sephardim,  upon  whom  the  Rabbis 
have  far  less  hold,  and  who  have  little  share  in  the  haluka. 

Unhappily  for  Jerusalem,  it  seems  as  if  no  question  of 
current  history  or  politics  can  be  considered  apart  from 
some  form  of  religious  bias,  and  the  relation  between  Chris- 
tians and  Jews  in  Jerusalem  seems  to  consist  of  two  kinds 
of  prejudice — that  of  the  Latins,  who  (with  the  exception  of 
the  Educational  Orders  of  the  Peres  de  Sion,  and  of  the 
Sisters  known  as  the  Dames  de  Sion)  ignore  them,  and  of 
the  English  missionaries,  who  spend  considerable  force  of 
various  kinds  in  the  somewhat  futile  attempt  to  convert 
them. 

In  estimating  the  attitude  of  the  Jews,  rather  than  in 
criticizing  that  of  the  missionaries,  a  few  figures  may  be 
informing.  Between  1839  and  1847 1  (the  Society  having 
been  at  work  since  1823),  thirty-one  adult  Jews  were  bap- 
tized— an  average  of  about  four  a  year.  Between  1849  and 
1896,2  including  infants  as  well  as  adults,  there  were  492 
baptisms,  an  average  of  ten  and  a  quarter  a  year,  probably 
half  of  those  being  infants.  In  the  year  1901,  according 
to  the  report  of  the  Society,  the  baptisms  (children  and 
adults)  had  risen  to  thirteen.  The  Jewish  population  being 
at  the  lowest  about  30,000,  the  percentage  of  converts, 

1  Life  of  Bishop  Gobat,  p.  241. 

2  See  Missions  to  Jews,  p.  91,  a  publication  of  the  London  Jews' 
Society. 

64 


assuming,  as  I  am  officially  informed  I  may,  that  half  of 
those  baptized  are  adults,  would  be  less  than  one  in  4,000. 
The  expenditure  of  the  Society  was  over  £7,000,  or  about  a 
thousand  pounds  a  convert. 

As  to  the  sincerity  of  the  conversions  it  would  perhaps  be 
unfair  to  hazard  an  opinion.  Mr.  Zangwill,  however,  who 
cannot  be  accused  of  glossing  over  the  faults  of  his  race,  is 
very  definite  upon  this  point. 

"  No  Jew  has  ever  apostatized  except  to  fill  his  purse  or 
his  stomach,  or  to  avoid  persecution.  Getting  grace  they 
call  it  in  England  ;  but  with  poor  Jews  it  is  always  grace  after 
meals  .  .  .  Two  Spanish  Jews  who  had  '  got  grace  '  were 
waiting  to  be  baptized  at  Burgos  Cathedral,  There  was  a 
great  throng  of  Catholics,  and  a  special  Cardinal  was  coming 
to  conduct  the  ceremony,  for  their  conversion  was  a  great 
triumph.  But  the  Cardinal  was  late,  and  the  Jews  fumed 
and  fretted  at  the  delay.  The  shadows  of  evening  were 
falling  on  vault  and  transept.  At  last  one  turned  to  the 
other  and  said,  '  Knowest  thou  what,  Moses  ?  If  the  father 
does  not  arrive  soon,  we  shall  be  too  late  to  say 


Bishop  Gobat's  testimony  is  equally  strong.     "I  tremble 

whenever  the  missionaries  send  me  a    convert,    for  either 

he  is  insincere  from  the  beginning,  or,  if  he  commence   by 

being  sincere,  he  will  soon  be  spoilt  by  the  flattery  of  the 

friends  of  Israel  in  England."     (Gobat,  Life  of,  p.  289.) 

This  is  a  Moslem's  view  of  the  same  question  :  2 

"  English  people  bought  land  for  converted  Jews  at  Jaffa 

and  built  houses  for  them.     If  one  was  carpenter  they  gave 

him  tools,  they  gave  these  Jews  horses,  donkeys  and  car- 

riages (carts),  and  ploughs,  and  gave  each  one  shilling  for 

1  The  afternoon  prayer  of  the  Jew,  said  at  the  hour  of  the  Evening 
Sacrifice  as  the  Catholic  prays  at  the  Angelas.  Possibly  referred 
to  in  the  verse,  "  And  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  as  (or  at  the  time  of  ) 
the  evening  sacrifice." 

-   With  the  Bedouin,  Gray-Hill.     Appendix. 

65  F 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

every  day.  Those  Jews  took  all,  and  when  they  were  rich 
they  ran  away  back  to  other  Jews.  I  think  only  five  or 
six  remain. 

"  Once,  when  I  was  going  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem,  I  found 
people  beating  one  Jew.  It  was  near  Ramleh.  He  have 
been  eating  and  drinking,  and  he  jump  on  his  horse  and  run 
away  without  paying.  They  went  after  him  and  caught  him. 
They  beat  him  too  much.  I  said,  '  How  much  is  it  ?  '  They 
tell  me  '  seven  piastres  '  (about  Is.  2d.).  I  pay  it.  He  tell 
them  he  have  no  money.  Then  I  want  to  know  whether 
it  was  true  he  have  none.  So  I  ask  him.  He  say,  '  Yes,  I 
have  plenty  money,  but  I  did  not  want  to  give  it.  I  thought 
I  could  run  away  on  my  horse.'  He  paid  me.  He  give  me 
one  medjidie,  and  I  take  seven  piastres,  and  give  him  the 
rest.  He  was  a  converted  Jew.  I  ask  him,  '  Are  you  Protes- 
tant ?  '  He  tell  me,  '  Oh  no,  I  go  by  them,  and  tell  them  I 
am  very  poor,  and  they  give  me  house  and  clothes  and  one 
shilling  every  day.  When  I  have  enough  I  leave  them.' 

"Never  any  Jew  is  converted.  They  only  laugh  at  Eng- 
lish. You  know  that  court  of  church  of  Holy  Sepulchre  at 
Jerusalem.  No  Jew  can  pass  there.  If  he  do  they  kill 
him.  Christians  have  one  firman  from  Sultan  that  if  any 
Jew  go  there  and  they  catch  him  they  may  kill  him." 

Perhaps,  to  speak  it  profanely,  there  is  less  temptation  to 
conversion  for  the  working  Jew  in  Jerusalem  than  else- 
where, for  as  a  large  proportion  of  workshops  and  markets 
are  in  their  own  hands  and  in  those  of  the  Mohammedans, 
they  can  work  six  days  a  week,  and  so  the  sacrifice  to  re- 
ligious principle  is  less  than  in  most  other  places.  It  is 
commonly  alleged  that  a  Jew's  religion  costs  him  five  shil- 
lings in  the  pound  more  than  the  Christian's,  for,  as  has  been 
well  said,  "  it  consists  largely  in  meats  and  drinks  and  in  loss 
of  time."  Animal  food  has,  at  all  costs,  to  be  killed  in  a 
special  manner,  and  with  considerable  waste,  as  the  hind- 
quarters cannot  be  eaten,  and  it  often  happens  that  the  beast 
or  bird,  after  having  been  killed,  is  condemned  for  some 

66 


x. 
JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

impurity.  Then,  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  Sunday  in  a 
Christian  country,  there  are  so  many  fasts  and  festivals  that 
the  working  year  is  reduced  by  at  least  another  score  of  days. 

If  so  little  has  been  effected  in  the  past,  when  the  Jews 
themselves  had  few  charitable  and  philanthropic  agencies, 
what  can  be  the  prospects  for  the  future,  now  that  they  them- 
selves have  every  sort  of  charity  and  institution  magnificently 
supported  and  admirably  organized  ?  Of  what  use  is  it 
to  have  spent  £12,000  upon  the  erection  of  an  English 
Hospital  for  Jews,  and  £2,000  a  year  upon  the  maintenance 
of  its  staff,  when  they  have  four  hospitals  and  several  skilled 
physicians  of  their  own  ? — men  able  to  converse  with  them 
in  their  own  tongues,  of  which  as  many  as  fourteen  are  some- 
times required  in  a  single  morning  ;  hospitals  of  which  a 
synagogue  is  a  necessary  adjunct  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
100  odd  laws  which  are  involved  in  their  ritual  an  almost 
essential  feature  1 

We  read  in  the  last  Report  of  the  English  Hospital  that  by 
association  with  Christians  "  a  great  deal  of  the  prejudice, 
the  barrier  between  Christ  and  His  Jewish  people,  is  broken 
down."  However,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  even  out-patients 
are  expected  to  receive  religious  instruction,  the  results, 
statistically  speaking,  are  not  very  striking  ;  it  is  added,  by 
way  of  illustration,  "  We  had  hopes  of  a  young  Yemen  Jew 
coming  out  and  confessing  Christ.  He  was  very  ill,  but  we 
could  not  keep  him  any  longer  in  the  hospital  on  account 
of  the  nature  of  his  disease."  Nearly  a  thousand  patients 
received  treatment,  involving,  for  the  most  part,  attendance 
at  prayers,  and  of  these  there  were  "  hopes  "  of  one  tenth 
— of  one  per  cent.  ! 

However  great  his  confidence  in  the  skill  and  kindness  of 
English  doctors  and  nurses,  no  true  Jew  would  risk  the 
danger  of  dying  in  a  Christian  hospital  and  consequently 
of  being  refused  the  rites  of  burial  by  his  co-religionists. 
Moreover,  at  Passover  time,  no  Jew  would  dream  of 
remaining  in  Gentile  surroundings,  and  accordingly  the 

67 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

hospital  is  then  entirely  emptied  of  all  its  patients. 
When  we  consider  what  would  be  the  result,  say,  upon  St. 
Bartholomew's,  if  no  patient  could  risk  dying  within  its 
walls,  nor  of  remaining  there  during  the  Christmas  week,  it 
is  obvious  that  serious  cases  can  seldom  be  received  !  Of 
minor  complaints,  eye  ailments  are  infinitely  the  most 
numerous  in  Palestine,  and  these  are  admirably  provided  for 
by  the  magnificent  English  Ophthalmic  Hospital,  in  which, 
according  to  the  latest  Report  (1903),  over  a  thousand  opera- 
tions were  performed  and  over  5,000  cases  treated.  The 
patients  are  of  all  religions,  and  none  is  forced  upon  their 
notice. 

One  can  only  admire  the  strength  of  the  conviction  which 
leads  to  the  subscription,  mainly  in  England,  of  over  £7,000 
a  year  for  the  support  of  this  and  a  small  amount  of  edu- 
cational work  in  Jerusalem,  on  behalf  of,  possibly,  the  richest 
nation  in  the  world,  and  (towards  each  other)  one  of  the 
most  charitable. 

In  former  times,  when  the  rich  Jews  did  but  little  for  the 
small  number  of  their  race  then  living  in  Jerusalem,  the 
notion  of  bribing  them  to  Christianity  with  medicine  and 
lesson  books  might  conceivably  be  less  unpractical  than 
now,  when  we  can  give  them  nothing  except  the  religion 
they  reject,  with  which  they  are  not  at  least  as  well,  often 
far  better,  provided  on  their  own  account.  They  have, 
except  the  Germans,  the  finest  hospital,  the  only  proper 
disinfecting  laboratory,  the  only  wholly  isolated  wards  for 
the  reception  of  diphtheria  and  small-pox  patients,  the 
only  poor-house,  the  only  mad-house,  the  only  Hospital  for 
Incurables,1  the  only  School  of  Art,  the  only  effective  Tech- 

1  It  is,  however,  only  just  to  say  that  at  the  Convent  of  the  Soeurs 
de  S.  Vincent  de  Paul,  which  is  open  to  misery  of  every  age  and 
creed,  may  be  found  the  old  and  infirm,  idiots  and  the  incurable. 
They  also  receive  and  teach  the  blind,  as  do  the  Jews,  the  Germans 
and  a  benevolent  English  lady  whose  solitary  perseverance  should 
recommend  her  work  to  the  kindness  of  those  who  would  wish  Eng- 
lish charity  to  be  better  represented  in  Jerusalem. 

68 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

nical  Schools,  the  only  Weaving  School,  the  only  Public 
Library,  and  the  only  newspaper  in  Jerusalem.  They  have 
the  only  Girls'  School  under  English  Government  inspection 
and  properly  trained  certificated  teachers  (the  Evelina  de 
Rothschild  School),  the  only  Cookery  School  for  girls,  the 
only  place  where  young  women  are  taught  gardening, 
domestic  economy,  laundry  work  and  first  aid  to  the 
injured.  Their  needlework  excels  even  that  of  the 
convents,  which  is  saying  a  great  deal ;  and  their 
Kindergarten,  of  some  250  children,  is  directed  by  a 
teacher  trained  at  the  Froebel  School  in  Dresden ; 
while  the  headmistress,  a  highly  educated  Englishwoman, 
is  a  Queen's  scholar  holding  first-class  Government  diplo- 
mas, and  of  considerable  experience  in  both  primary 
and  secondary  schools.  The  children  have  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  result  from  such  experience  in  the  way 
of  proper  desks  properly  placed  in  reference  to  light — 
a  point,  where  sound  eyes  are  a  rare  exception,  of  infinite 
importance,  and  which,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  is  ignored 
everywhere  else.  They  have  all  the  best  and  most  modern 
English  text-books,  and  the  whole  600  children,  whatever 
their  nationality,  are  taught  in  English  and  in  pure  Hebrew, 
no  word  of  "  jargon  "  being  permitted.  They  come  from 
homes  of  every  class,  the  richest  in  Jerusalem  as  well  as 
from  those  of  almost  incredible  poverty,  but  all  pay  some- 
thing, according  to  their  means — a  gratifying  tribute  to  the 
desire  for  education  and  improvement. 

What  chance  has  the  best-intentioned  institution  of  the 
London  Jews'  Society  against  such  work  as  this,  although  its 
Girls'  School,  numbering,  according  to  its  last  Report,  thirty- 
nine  boarders,  is  doubtless  a  centre  of  home-like  and  kindly 
influences  ?  Its  Boys'  School  takes  itself  more  seriously, 
and  there  the  teaching  seems  to  be  of  excellent  quality, 
inasmuch  as,  especially  in  the  relations  between  master  and 
scholar,  it  aims  at  education  rather  than  instruction.  The 
boys  are  encouraged  to  manly  games,  and  their  summer 

69 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

holiday- camp  gives  them  opportunities    for  the  study  of 
natural  history,  and  for  swimming  and  photography. 

The  mission  has  also  a  day-school  under  the  charge  of 
devoted  ladies,  which  is  not  only  free,  but  which  obviously 
also  clothes  many  of  those  who  attend  it,  as  judging 
from  cut,  fit,  quality  and  workmanship,  the  frocks  and 
blouses  could  have  been  produced  nowhere  but  at  an 
English  "  working-party."  One  cannot  but  wish  that 
the  Dorcases  of  some  kindly  parish  could  see  their  handi- 
work side  by  side  with  the  graceful  dresses  of  the  women 
of  Syria. 

The  mission  expends  some  £1,500  a  year  on  a  House  of 
Industry,  but  a  visit  to  the  workrooms  of  the  Technical  School 
of  the  Alliance  Israelite  can  only  suggest  to  the  unprejudiced 
observer  the  reflection  that  whether  the  Jew  has  a  future  in 
Jerusalem  or  no,  his  present  is  not  of  a  nature  to  require 
Christian  patronage  or  Christian  alms. 

One  modest  piece  of  work,  truly  demonstrating  the  spirit 
of  the  charity  that  "  is  not  puffed  up,"  is  to  be  found  in  a 
quiet  corner  a  mile  or  so  from  Jerusalem,  bearing  the 
pleasantly  suggestive  name  of  Abraham's  Vineyard,  or,  in 
Arabic,  Kerm  el-Khaleel,  the  Vineyard  of  the  Friend  (of 
God).  Its  history  is  simple  and  reasonable.  It  was  founded 
as  long  ago  as  1852,  when  very  little  material  aid  was  given 
to  the  poor  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  by  Mrs.  Finn,  the  wife  of  the 
then  English  consul,  for  the  object  of  giving  work  to  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  the  very  poor.  There  is  no 
quid  pro  quo  exacted  of  attendance  at  prayer-meetings  ; 
it  is  merely  an  object-lesson  in  that  spirit  of  the  human 
charity  which  was  brought  down  from  heaven  by  a  Jew, 
"  despised  and  rejected  of  men."  A  piece  of  ground  of  ten 
acres,  redeemed  from  the  bare  hillside,  was  enclosed, 
cultivated  and  planted  with  vines  and  olive-trees,  and  as  it 
became  more  obvious  that  the  immigration  of  Jews  was  an- 
nually increasing  quite  out  of  proportion  with  the  accommo- 
dation then  provided,  a  quarry  was  opened  on  the  vineyard, 

70 


OI.IVK  OIL  PRESSES,  FOR  CRUSHING  THK  FRUIT,  AND  FOR 

PRESSING   OUT  THK   Oil.. 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

stones  cut  and  dressed,  and  a  house  erected,  the  first  built  by 
Jews  outside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  teach  those 
who  came  from  the  cities  how  to  execute  practical  work  of 
the  kind.     In  1882  Mrs.  Finn,  who  had  returned  to  England, 
established  in  connexion  with  the  Vineyard  the  Society  for 
Relief  of  Persecuted  Jews,  and  it  is  said  that  there  is  im- 
mense competition  for  the  privilege  of  working  here  at  its 
various  industries.     Seventy  men  are  daily  employed.     One 
important  work  is  the  construction  of  cisterns,  hewn  out  of 
the  solid  rock — the  storage  of  water  (which  has  a  definite 
commercial    value)     being    a    very    important    feature    of 
Jerusalem  husbandry.     Agriculture  on  such  a  small  scale  as 
the  size  of  the  estate  permits  is  also  carried  on,  and  the  mere 
spectacle  of  the  exquisite  finish  and  orderliness  of  the  ground 
must  have  practical  value  in  this  land  of  slovenliness  and  too 
often  dirt,  even  in  public  institutions  where  one  would  least 
expect  to  encounter  it.     There  are  also  carpenters'  work- 
shops, the  stone  excavated  from  the  cisterns  is  dressed  and 
sold,  and  an  excellent  toilet-soap  is  made  from  pure  olive- 
oil  combined  with  alkali  from  the  Dead  Sea.     One  cannot 
help  wishing  that  the  English  Jews  would  help  to  enlarge 
and  extend  so  admirable  a  piece  of  work,  which  enters  into 
no  competition  with  any  institution  of  their  own,  and,  in 
point  of  fact,  relieves  them  from  a  burden  otherwise  incum- 
bent upon  themselves.     A  pleasing  incident  which  lately 
occurred  reveals  something  of  the  good  feeling  of  the  people 
themselves.     It  was  on  June  25,  1902,  the  day  when  the  sad 
news  reached  Jerusalem  of  the  postponement  of  the  Corona- 
tion.    The  projected  festivities,   organized  mainly  by  the 
missionaries,  included  no  entertainment  for  the  old  and  poor 
of  Abraham's  Vineyard,  so  there  was  no  selfish  regret  in  the 
petition  preferred  to  the  manager,  that  they  might  be  allowed 
time  to  pray  for  the  King's  restoration  to  health.  Permission 
being  given,  they  asked  that  His  Majesty's  name  might  be 
spelt  out  to  them,  when  they  prayed  separately  for  every 
letter  of  Albert  Edward,  the  significance  of  letters  and  num- 

71 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

bers  being  a  part  of  the  esoteric  teaching  of  the  Jewish 
faith  ! 

It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  this  connexion,  the  very  kindly 
feeling  towards  England   which,  in  spite  of  their  extreme 
rigidity,  is  entertained  by  certain  of  the  Ashkenazim,  and 
which  is  said  to  be  an  inheritance  of  gratitude  for  the  fact  that 
their  synagogue  is  built  on  ground  obtained  for  them  by  the 
intercession  of  Lord  Napier.     The  building  is,  of  its  kind, 
very  handsome,  and  contains  elaborate  silver  chandeliers, 
and  an  Almenar  (centre  pulpit),  of  olive-wood  and  wrought 
iron.     During  the  Boer  War  a  special  prayer  on  behalf  of 
the  English  arms  was  circulated  for  daily  use  among  the 
congregation.     The  reading  of  Psalms  18,  20,  24,  27,  35,  83, 
and  144  was  recommended,  and  then  followed  a  lengthy 
and  eloquent  prayer  :  "  For  the  troops  of  our  English  brethren, 
who  stand  this  day  in  battle  with  their  enemies  " — who  are 
further  referred  to  as  "  the  enlightened  English  people,  chosen 
to  tread  and  rule  vast  parts  of  the  earth,  and  whom  Thou  hast 
strengthened  for  their  uprightness  and  hast  given  them  for  their 
inheritance  vast   lands  of  the  Gentiles,  that  they  may  breathe 
to  their  inhabitants  a  generous  spirit  and  a  love  of  righteous- 
ness and  right,  who  have  given  freedom    and  righteous  laws 
to  every  creature,  and  have  spread  wisdom  and  knowledge  in 
all  their  dominions  according  to  the  pleasure  of  Her  Majesty 
the  Queen,  who  is  full  of  righteousness  and  kindness  .  .  .  yea, 
the  English  nation,  which  protects  and  shields  Thy  people 
Israel  from  oppression  .  .  .  O  King,  Dweller  of  Jerusalem, 
may  the  Redeemer  come  to  Zion.     Amen" 

Professor  Margoliouth  has  pointed  out  what  is,  I  venture 
to  think,  endorsed  by  observation  of  the  relations  between 
the  various  religionists  in  Jerusalem,  that  the  Jews  are  more 
kindly  disposed  towards  the  Mohammedan  than  towards  the 
Christian.  The  reason  he  assigns  is,  that  "  though  Mo- 
hammed himself  hated  the  Jews,  the  terms  they  got  in 
Mohammedan  countries  were,  on  the  whole,  so  favourable, 
that  the  feeling  towards  Mohammed,  which  is  reflected  in 

72 


JEWS    IN   JERUSALEM 

early  Jewish  literature,  is  very  different  from  the  feeling 
about  Christ.  The  persecution  of  the  Jews  has  not  only 
rendered  conversion  difficult  by  making  Christianity  odious, 
but  still  more  by  making  Judaism  dear." 

In  the  eyes  of  the  Jew  Mohammedanism  has  at  least  one 
practical  differentiation  from  Christianity  as  represented  by 
its  more  Protestant  adherents — that,  much  as  it  may  despise 
him  and  his  religion,  it  has  at  least  no  desire  to  super-impose 
any  other. 

Of  the  relation  of  the  Jew  with  Jerusalem,  as  his  former 
home,  the  scene  of  the  history  of  his  race,  it  is  not  possible  to 
speak  at  any  length.  To  the  casual  observer  his  position  is 
essentially  modern  :  he  is  an  immigrant,  a  foreigner,  more 
distinctly  so  perhaps  than  even  in  London  or  New  York. 
He  is  rigorously  excluded  from  even  the  courtyard  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  even  when,  as  recently  happened,  he  is 
represented  by  a  distinguished  English  novelist  with,  as 
far  as  one  knows,  no  anti-Christian  prejudices.  From  the 
Temple  area,  now  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Moslems,  he 
voluntarily  excludes  himself,  lest,  it  is  said,  he  should  acci- 
dentally profane  the  Holy  of  Holies,  though  it  would  seem 
that  without  the  Divine  Presence  and  the  presence  of  the 
Tables  of  the  Law  the  Holy  of  Holies  could  not  virtually 
exist.  It  is  in  the  well  known  Wailing  Place  that  one  realizes 
that  the  Jew  is  a  homeless  exile,  heir  to  all  the  sufferings  of 
what  Zangwill  has  called  "  the  long  cruel  night  in  Jewry 
which  coincides  with  the  Christian  era."  There,  not  only  at 
the  conventional  hour  on  Friday  afternoon,  when  the  Jews 
assemble  in  large  numbers,  but  all  day,  and  every  day,  and 
even,  at  certain  seasons,  all  night,  one  may  witness  scenes  of 
obviously  real  personal  sorrow.  On  the  ninth  day  of  the 
month  Ab,  a  time  when  for  nine  days  the  Jews  fast  from 
meat  and  wine,  when  there  are  no  marriages  and  no 
rejoicings,  then  above  all  it  is,  in  the  words  of  their  own 
litany,  that  "  for  the  palaces  laid  waste,  for  the  Temple 
destroyed,  for  the  walls  laid  low,  for  the  glory  which  has 

73 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

gone,  for  the  great  ones  perished,"  they  "  sit  solitary  and 
weep."  As  has  been  well  said  by  a  recent  writer  in  the 
Tablet  (March  15,  1902),  "it  is  not  for  us  to  interpolate  our 
interpretations  of  the  workings  of  Divine  Providence  into 
the  application  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  even  to  the  race  of  the  unjust  judges  of  our  Saviour. 
That  race  was  His  .  .  .  The  modern  Jew,  descended 
after  nineteen  centuries  from  those  who  preferred  Barabbas, 
is  entitled  to  be  judged,  in  the  relations  of  policy  and 
citizenship,  as  what  he  is — the  devotee  of  deathless 
tradition,  the  bearer  of  an  undying  nationality,  the  victim 
of  his  patriotism  and  religion." 

When  one  sees  the  work  effected  by  the  Jewish  Colonisa- 
tion Association,  by  the  Anglo-Jewish  Association,  and  by 
the  Alliance  Israelite,  one  realizes  that  even  unscrupulous 
charity  cannot  wholly  degrade,  nor  Rabbinical  obstruc- 
tionism entirely  depress,  a  people  whom  repeated  dispersions 
have  failed  to  disunite,  and  two  thousand  years  of  perse- 
cution have  not  sufficed  to  destroy.  If  numerical  superior- 
ity be  a  criterion  of  possession,  and  achievement  a  measure 
of  power  ;  if  the  higher  civilization  be  that  of  the  more 
effective  philanthropy,  and  true  part  and  lot  in  the  soil  be  that 
of  him  who  restores  it  to  cultivation;  then,  mysterious  as 
may  seem  to  us  the  workings  of  God's  providence,  the  deep 
tragedy  of  their  existence,  the  dark  problem  of  their  destiny, 
is  approaching  solution,  and  Jerusalem  is  for  the  Jews. 


74 


CHAPTER  VI 

RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

"THE  RUSSIAN  To  WEB  " — RELIGIOUS  BUILDINGS — RELA- 
TIONS BETWEEN  GREEK  AND  RUSSIAN  CHURCHES — 
POPULATION  —  PILGRIMAGES — "  IMPERIAL  ORTHODOX 
SOCIETY  " —MEANS  OF  EDUCATION — GREEK  PATRI- 
ARCHATE— RUSSIAN  DISSENT — ARCHIMANDRITE — CON- 
SULATE— ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY — AMBASSADOR — 
INFLUENCE  ON  THE  WEST — JEALOUSIES  AND  DISPUTES 

T  N  a  recent   examination  in  a  Christian  school   in  Jeru-' 
*      salem,  the  question  was  asked,  "  Where  is  the  Mount  1 
of  Olives,  and  what  took  place  upon  it  ?  "     The  answer  was,  i 
"  To  the  east  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  Russian  Tower  took  I 
place  upon  it." 

To  the  average  boy  in  Jerusalem  every  point  upon  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  the  Mosque  of  the  Ascension,  the  Church 
of  the  Pater,  the  Chapel  of  the  Credo,  the  Church  of  the 
Dominus  flcevit,  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  the,  Grotto  of 
the  Agony,  the  Church  of  the  Tomb  of  Our  Lady,  the  Tombs 
of  the  Prophets,  and  the  Viri  Galilicei,  aU  suggestive  of 
historical  association,  are  as  familiar  as  are,  to  the  young 
Londoner,  Charing  Cross  or  the  Zoological  Gardens  ;  and 
the  boy's  reply  has  probably  been  a  long-standing  subject 
of  mirth  and  reproach  among  his  fellows,  or  at  any  rate  it 
would  have  been  if  the  school  in  question  had  been  a  girls' 
school. 

Nevertheless,    the   naif   remark  donne  a  pen-ser.      It   is 

75 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

charged  with  a  political  significance,  possibly  even  a  re- 
ligious significance,  of  which  but  a  very  small  proportion  of 
those  "  at  home  "  are  in  any  degree  aware. 

The  Russian  Tower  is  what  is  commonly  known  as  a 
"  Belvedere."  It  is  six  stories  high,  it  is  ascended  by  214 
steps,  and  it  presents  the  finest  panorama  in  the  country. 
Northward,  over  Mount  Scopas,  one  can  follow  the  new 
high-road  which  has  already  reached  to  Bethel,  and  is, 
ultimately,  to  open  up  the  way  to  Nazareth.  Eastward, 
nearly  4,000  feet  below,  lies  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan  is  clearly  visible  although  seven  hours'  ride 
distant ;  and  on  a  clear  day  one  sees  even  further,  to  the 
town  of  Kerak,  twelve  hours  distant,  an  important  military 
station,  and  a  seat  of  Turkish  government.  It  is  a  town 
of  over  20,000  inhabitants  and  has  a  garrison  of  some  2,000 
infantry  and  350  cavalry  ;  it  is  a  very  important  stronghold 
as  well  as  a  considerable  centre  of  commerce  with  the  desert 
tribes.  Westwards  we  look  towards  the  Mediterranean  ; 
and  south,  in  the  direction  of  Bethlehem  and  Hebron.  It 
is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  Russian  Tower  is  a  quite 
important  incident  to  have  "  taken  place  upon  "  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  and  that,  visible  from  the  Mediterranean  on  the 
west  and  to  the  boundary  of  Syria  on  the  east,  it  is  a  valuable 
strategic  position,  worthy  even  of  the  country  by  which 
it  was  devised. 

It  should,  however,  be  mentioned  that  the  Russian  Tower 
is  merely  a  feature  in  a  group  of  buildings  strictly  religious 
in  their  purpose — a  church,  a  hospice  for  pilgrims,  and  the 
residence  of  the  Archimandrite.  A  few  miles  west  of 
Jerusalem  lies  the  beautiful  village  of  Ain  Karim,  and  there, 
on  a  hill-top  commanding  a  view  both  of  the  Mount  of  Olives 
and  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  Russians  began  to  build  a 
similar  tower,  which,  however,  presents  a  somewhat  truncated 
appearance,  a  repetition  of  the  same  style  of  structure 
having  been  disapproved,  it  is  alleged,  by  the  Government 
authorities,  who,  like  the  English  County  Councils,  claim 

76 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

the  right  of  architectural  criticism.  Here  also  the  Tower 
is,  again,  merely  a  feature  of  an  adjacent  group  of  religious 
buildings — a  chapel,  a  hospice,  and  an  establishment  for 
nuns,  who  live,  not  in  community,  but  in  separate  dwellings. 

Bearing  in  mind  then  the  occasional  union  of  religious 
with  secular  objects,  it  may  be  interesting  to  glance  at  the 
position  occupied  by  Russia  in  connexion  with  the  Holy 
City. 

Jerusalem  has  no  commerce,  no  manufactures,  no  agri- 
culture ;  in  no  part  of  the  town  itself  could  you  drive  for 
more  than  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  ;  the  majority  of  the 
streets  are  inaccessible  even  to  the  camel,  which  does  most 
of  the  goods  traffic  of  the  country,  and  a  good  many  even 
to  the  horse.  The  donkey  is  the  omnibus  of  Jerusalem, 
and  as  it  is  trained  to  walk  up  and  down  the  steps  of  which 
most  of  the  streets  consist,  you  can  generally  arrive  at  your 
front  door  or  do  your  shopping  without  dismounting. 
En  revanche,  however,  Jerusalem  has  probably  more  lan- 
guages and  more  religions  than  any  town  in  the 
world.  Her  politics  are  questions  of  sites,  questions, 
however,  but  indirectly  connected  with  archaeology;  her 
most  important  languages,  Arabic,  the  native  language, 
apart,  are  those  in  which  these  questions  are  carried  on, 
namely  French  and  German  ;  and  her  dominant  religions 
are  those  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 

The  Holy  Places,  which  are  the   "sites"   in  question, 
more    especially  the    Holy  Sepulchre  and    the  Church  of; 
Bethlehem,  are  under  the  protection  of  the  Franciscans,  \ 
who  since  1230  have  been  the  recognized  custodians  of  the 
Holy  Places,  and  as  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  Italians,  , 
and    as  their    superior,   the    Pere    Custode,   is    invariably 
Italian,  it  might  have  seemed  natural  that  Italian,  rather 
than  French,  should  be  cited  as  for  them  the  language  of 
debate.     But  this  brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  curious 
complication  that  whereas  the  Franciscans  are  the  guardians 
of  the  Holy  Places,  France  is  the  guardian  of  the  Franciscans. 

77 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

A  similar  international  anomaly  meets  us  when  we  come 
to  consider  the  question  from  the  other  side — that  of  the 
Greeks.  To  most  of  us  in  England,  the  Orthodox  Eastern 
Church  is  associated  equally  with  the  Holy  Synod  of  Russia, 
and  with  the  older  Patriarchates  of  Constantinople,  Antioch, 
Alexandria  and  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  a  little  perplexing 
to  the  new  comer  to  find  that  the  Russian  priest  cannot, 
theoretically,  officiate  at  the  Greek  Altar  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  that  a  perpetually  recurring  dispute  is  the 
election  to  some  bishopric  or  patriarchate  of  a  nominee  of 
the  Greek  or  Russian  congregations  respectively,  and  that 
he  who  would  understand  in  what  sense,  and  that  not  an 
unimportant  one,  Jerusalem  is  making  history,  must,  in 
the  absence  of  local  newspapers,  never  lose  sight  for  one  day 
of  the  relations,  not  merely  between  the  Latin  and  the  Greek, 
but  of  the  further  complication  of  Greek  and  Russian. 

Of  all  this  the  Russian  Tower  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives 
is  the  effective  prototype.  It  is  situated  between  Church 
and  Presbytery,  but  it  moreover  looks  towards  the  Turkish 
defences  on  the  east,  and  towards  the  fleets  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean on  the  west. 

Statistics  are  hard  to  arrive  at  where  there  are  no  registers 
of  births  and  deaths  and  no  census  ;  but  if  we  may  accept 
the  figures  given  in  Baedeker,  the  resident  orthodox  Greeks 
number  about  6,000,  a  number  which  is  more  than  doubled, 
perhaps  trebled,  every  year  by  the  immigration  of  Rus- 
sian pilgrims,  almost  entirely  of  the  peasant,  even  of  the 
poorest  peasant  classes.  Between  Christmas  and  Easter 
(the  Greek  Christmas  falls  eight  days  later  than  ours)  at 
least  8,000  pilgrims,  men  and  women,  arrive  in  Jerusalem, 
many  of  them  coming  from  the  interior  of  Russia,  from 
distances  so  great  that  it  is  said  the  pilgrimage  often 
occupies  two  years  ;  for  the  piety,  if  not  poverty,  of  the 
devout  Russian  demands  that  the  journey  shall  be  made, 
whenever  possible,  on  foot. 

Such  an  immigration  cannot  be  without  important 

78 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

consequences,  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  the  home  sur- 
roundings of  the  people  themselves  ;  and  it  is  obvious  that 
the  piety  of  the  Russian  peasantry  is  an  instrument  to  be 
seriously  reckoned  with.  The  national  Church  has  a  hold 
upon  them  possibly  unparalleled  in  history.  It  has  been 
long  bound  up  with  the  fortunes  of  the  country,  it  has  been 
subject  to  no  changes,  no  reformations  ;  it  is  the  Church  of 
the  people  as  such,  a  part  of  their  history.  Their  monas- 
teries are  the  fortresses  of  the  country  and  have  been  con- 
stantly put  to  practical  use  against  the  foreign  invader  ; 
the  Czar  is  in  a  special  sense  the  symbol  of  the  unity  of  the 
Church  and  the  nation  ;  their  Church  is  the  largest  national 
Church  in  the  world,  and  their  passion  is  for  pilgrimage. 
That  this  is  racial  rather  than  inherent  in  their  religion 
has  been  well  demonstrated  by  a  recent  writer  on  The 
Teaching  of  the  Russian  Church  (Arthur  C.  Headlam,  B.D., 
1897). 

"  There  are  few  contrasts  greater  than  that  of  passing 
from  a  Greek  monastery  on  Mount  Athos  to  the  great 
Russian  houses.  There  is  no  sight  in  Palestine  more  im- 
pressive than  that  of  the  devotion,  and  enthusiasm,  and 
endurance  of  the  Russian  pilgrims  "  (p.  27)  ;  and  again, 
"  Just  as  we  might  say  that  one  great  characteristic  of  the 
English  Church  was  practical  philanthropy,  or  of  Germany 
a  devotion  to  theological  study,  or  of  Scotland  a  taste  for 
metaphysical  and  theological  discussion,  so  of  Russia  we 
might  say  that  it  was  religious  devotion.  .  .  .  The  half 
religious,  half  political  movement  which  presses  Russia 
ever  southwards  to  the  Holy  Places  is  one  of  the  forces 
which  will  mould  history  in  the  future  much  more  surely 
than  the  skill  of  its  statesmen.  Russia  is  a  religious  power 
not  to  be  despised,  one  of  the  great  factors  which  will  mould 
the  religion  of  the  future." 

Those  only  who  have  been  eye-witnesses  of  such  scenes 
as  are  of  daily  occurrence  in  the  Holy  Land  can  appreciate 
the  practical  working  of  Russian  devotion.  One  must 

79 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

travel  with  a  pilgrimage,  say  from  Beirut  to  Jaffa,  and 
see,  perhaps,  700  packed  close  on  a  shelterless  deck  on 
a  December  night.  Leaving  one's  quarters,  comfortable 
only  by  contrast,  in  the  first  class,  one  ascends  to  look 
upon  them  ;  there  is  not  space  to  approach  near.  In  spite 
of  the  cold  and  the  open  air,  the  smell  is  almost  unbearable  ; 
most  of  them  are  sea-sick,  a  few  are  munching  lumps  of 
hard  black  bread.  One  poor  woman  has  died  in  the  night, 
and  her  baby  of  a  few  months  old  wails  bitterly.  Astern 
a  tall  young  priest,  bareheaded,  whose  neat  golden  chignon, 
mysteriously  hairpinless,  is  a  perplexity  to  the  occidental 
understanding,  is  leading  a  hymn,  and  many  a  weary  head 
is  raised  from  the  bare  boards  to  share  in  the  sweet  melody. 
Arrived  at  Jaffa  every  pilgrim  devoutly  and  repeatedly 
crosses  himself  on  setting  foot  in  the  Holy  Land  ;  many  a 
bearded  man  stoops  to  kiss  the  sacred  soil,  while  tears  of 
real  emotion  arc  falling  from  the  eyes  of  men  and  women 
alike.  Most  of  them  will  walk  the  forty  miles,  the  nearly 
three  thousand  feet  of  ascent  between  this  and  Jerusalem.1 
Arrived  there  they  will  proceed  to  every  shrine  in  the  Holy 
Land.  You  will  meet  them  toiling  painfully  homeward 
from  the  Dead  Sea,  bathing  at  every  sacred  pool,  drinking 
at  every  historic  fountain,  approaching  on  hands  and  knees 
to  every  spot  of  religious  association,  crossing  themselves 
and  praying  wherever  the  slightest  pretext  for  devotion 
may  be  found.2  Scores  of  them  remain  all  night  in  the 

1  A  magnificent  bell  was    sent    from  Russia  for  the  church  at 
Jerusalem.     Disembarked  at  Jaffa  no  vehicle,  no  beast  of  burden, 
could  be  found  capable  of  transporting  it  to  Jerusalem.     It  was 
finally  conveyed  the  entire  distance  by  the  women  of  a  Rssians 
pilgrimage.     This  was  in  pre-railway  days. 

2  In  the  centre  of  the  courtyard  of  St.  George's  Collegiate  Church 
(the  new  church  of  the  Anglican  See  of  Jerusalem)  is  a  "  Founder's 
Cross  "  of  wrought  iron.     A  Russian  pilgrim,  visiting  it  one  day, 
inquired  the  meaning  of  the  cross,  when  it  entered  into  the  heart  of 
a  sinful  little  Arab  to  aver  that  it  was  the  burying  place  of  a  great 
saint,  upon  which  the  Russian  carried  to  his  friends  the  good  news 
of  a  new  holy  spot,  and  they  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  prostrations 


._t 


RUSSIA   IN   JERUSALEM 

Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  every  morning  at  day- 
break you  hear  them  singing  in  wonderful  harmonies  on  their 
way  to  the  hospice.  At  Christmas  or  Epiphany  they  take 
their  only  sleep,  packed  like  sardines  on  the  floor  of  the 
church  in  little  parties  or  family  groups,  of  whom  one,  even 
in  sleep,  is  embracing  the  great  brass  samovar  which  is 
their  centre  of  physical  comfort.  At  Easter  you  find  the 
same  scene  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem. 
On  the  Saturday  of  the  Greek  fire,  though  the  "  miracle  " 
does  not  occur  till  midday,  the  close-packed  crowds,  one  is 
told,  have  been  in  their  places  since  three  o'clock  of  the  day 
before.  They  are  always  pleasant  and  good-tempored,  ready 
to  greet  you  with  a  smile  and  to  accept  gratefully  the  smallest 
joke.  They  ask  for  nothing  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  the 
main  cause  of  the  importunity  of  the  beggars,  who  for 
the  most  part  entirely  disappear  when  the  last  Russian 
boat  has  gone  home.  When  the  first  warm  days  of  May 
bring  in  the  scirocco  they  die  off  like  flies,  and  the  sweet 
singing  in  the  streets  is  that  of  the  mourners  as  the  funerals, 
often  two  or  three  at  a  time,  are  hurried  to  the  Russian 
burying-ground  on  Mount  Sion  ;  the  faces  of  the  uncoffined 
dead  peaceful  and  quiet  in  death,  as  in  life,  suggesting,  before 
all  else,  that  their  pilgrimage  has  truly  led  them  to  the 
"  haven  where  they  would  be."  Some  h'ttle  party  which 
set  out  from  its  far-distant  village  has  left  a  hostage  or  two 
in  sacred  soil  and  will  take  home  a  shroud  or  two  the  less  ;  for 
the  coarse  cotton  cloth,  accurately  measured  against  the  stone 
upon  which,  it  is  said,  the  body  of  our  Lord  was  washed,  and 
a  bunch  of  candles  which  have  been  lighted  at  the  "  holy" 
fire,  are  part  of  the  return  burden  of  every  pilgrim,  the 
eagerly  welcomed  gift  for  the  dear  ones  at  home,  laid  aside 
for  the  day  when  their  time  too  shall  come  for  the  eternal 
sleep. 

The   annual,    if    temporary,    immigration    of    so    many 

and  genuflexions,  until  the  return  home  of  authority,  when  the  young 
Arab  was  suitably  dealt  with. 

81  G 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

strangers  into  so  small  a  town  as  Jerusalem,  where,  to  the 
indigenous  population,  order,  discipline,  and  foresight  are 
unknown,  would  entail,  if  not  efficiently  organized,  con- 
siderable, perhaps  even  serious,  discomforts  upon  the  per- 
manent and  temporary  population  alike.  Nothing,  however, 
could  be  more  admirable  than  the  perfect  discipline  of  the 
whole  movement,  and  its  organization  by  the  "  Imperial 
Orthodox  Society  of  Palestine  '  is  efficient  in  every 
detail. 

The  Society  was  founded  in  1847  for  the  encouragement 
of  pilgrimage,  but  its  work  did  not  become  actively  important 
till  after  the  Crimean  war.  Hitherto  all  pilgrims  of  the 
Greek  Church — Greeks,  Russians,  Bulgarians,  etc. — had 
been  lodged  in  the  various  Greek  convents  \\dthin  the  town  ; 
but  under  the  auspices  of  the  Society  an  entire  colony  has 
by  degrees  been  erected  on  the  north-west  side  of  Jerusalem 
in  an  excellent  and  open  situation.  It  consists  of  hospices 
for  single  men  and  women  and  for  families  respectively,  and 
includes  a  very  handsome  cathedral,  a  large  hospital,  shops 
selling  Russian  provisions  for  the  convenience  of  pilgrims, 
the  offices  of  the  Society,  and  large  and  well  kept  gardens 
which,  in  shadeless  Jerusalem,  are  an  especial  boon.  The 
Russian  Consulate  is  in  premises  adjoining.  There  are  also 
a  certain  number  of  superior  apartments  which  can  be 
engaged  by  visitors  of  the  higher  classes.  In  its  earlier 
days  the  Society  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Sergius,  brother  of  Alexander  III.  It  now  numbers 
at  least  1,500  members,  and  includes  the  Emperor,  the 
Royal  Family,  the  Ministry  and  many  distinguished  ecclesi- 
astics. All  receive  a  medal  in  gold,  silver  or  bronze, 
according  to  their  distinction  and  the  value  of  their  services  ; 
and  the  Society  has  its  own  flag  and  coat  of  arms. 

The  difficult  and  formerly  dangerous  transport  by  land 
and  sea  is  now  greatly  facilitated.  The  pilgrim,  before 
taking  ship  at  Odessa,  deposits  sufficient  money  for  his 
journey  to  Jerusalem  and  his  return,  amounting  to  not  less 

82 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

than  thirty-six  roubles.1  They  are,  then,  like  Cook's  tourists, 
provided  with  a  book  of  tickets  half  of  which  will  take  them 
to  Jerusalem,  while  the  other  half  is,  for  safety,  deposited 
on  arrival  at  the  bureau  of  the  Society.  The  pilgrims  bring 
stores  of  provisions  and  above  all  tea,  and  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that  hot  water  can  always  be  instantly  procured  in  any 
haunt  of  the  Russian  peasant.  On  arriving  in  the  Holy 
Land  they  are  met  by  the  Cawasses  of  the  Society,  who 
during  their  visit,  usually  of  three  months,  take  entire 
charge  of  their  affairs  and  invariably  accompany  them  in 
any  journeys  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  These  men 
are  Dalmatians  and  Montenegrins,  generally  of  splendid 
physique  and  dressed  in  the  dignified  costume  of  their 
country. 

For  prolonged  expeditions,  such  as  that  from  Jerusalem 
to  Nazareth,  the  pilgrims  must  undergo  inspection  by  the 
medical  officer.  They  are  preceded  and  followed  by 
Cawasses  mounted  and  armed  with  cutlass  and  revolver, 
and  accompanied  by  a  priest,  a  doctor,  a  Sister  of  Charity, 
and  others  ;  also  by  an  ambulance,  a  hospital-tent  and 
reserve  animals  for  the  use  of  any  pilgrims  exhausted  by 
the  way.  The  advance-guard  arranges  for  the  food  and 
housing  of  the  pilgrims.  The  danger  to  health  of  remaining 
during  the  summer  when  water  is  scarce — and  the  climate 
might  prove  trying  to  those  accustomed  to  temperature  so 
different — limits  the  pilgrim-season  to  practically  about 
half  a  year,  and,  for  convenience  of  housing,  those  arriving 
for  the  Christmas  ceremonials  generally  leave  before  Easter, 
and  those  arriving  for  Easter  remain  at  most  till  after 
the  Assumption.  After  the  beginning  of  July  the  pilgrims 
may  be  counted  by  scores  only. 

1  Coins  in  Jerusalem  are  constantly  changing  in  value.  If  we 
accept  Baedeker's  valuation  of  15  piastres  to  a  Russian  rouble,  this 
sum  would  be  worth  about  five  Napoleons,  which  clearly  demon- 
strates that  the  Russian  Government  finds  it  worth  while  largely  to 
subsidize  as  well  as  "  personally  conduct  "  these  immense  pilgrimages. 

83 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

From  time  to  time  the  work  of  the  Society  is  inspected 
by  its  officers,  or  other  competent  persons.  M.  Mansouroff 
has  written  two  works  on  the  Russian  pilgrim  in  Jerusalem, 
after  studying  the  subject  carefully  on  the  spot  for  some 
months.  M.  Philippow.  Controller  of  the  Empire,  and  a 
member  of  the  Holy  Synod,  spent  the  Easter  of  1894  at 
Jerusalem  ;  and  in  1899  M.  de  Nelidoff,  Russian  Ambassador 
to  Rome,  paid  a  lengthened  visit  to  this,  the  companion 
Holy  City.  It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  pilgrims  are 
conducted  even  as  far  as  Sinai  whenever  a  group  of  not 
less  than  ten  persons  shall  express  a  desire  for  this  difficult 
journey  across  the  desert ;  thus  carrying  the  example  of 
Russian  piety  to  the  district  of  the  monastery  of  St. 
Catherine,  now  under  Russian  protection. 

The  Latin  Orders  have  some  excellent  hospices,  mainly 
frequented  by  "  paying  guests,"  but  even  their  wonderful 
capacity  for  organization  has  invented  nothing  to  compare 
with  that  of  the  Imperial  Society  of  Russia,  nor  indeed  is 
it  required,  for  their  religious  pilgrims  are  comparatively 
small  in  number,  and,  as  a  rule,  not  far  removed  from  the 
ordinary  tourist  in  purpose. 

Hitherto,  however,  Russia  may  be  said  to  have  concen- 
trated her  efforts  mainly  in  the  direction  of  pilgrimages, 
and  indeed  no  more  effective  means  of  propaganda,  social 
and  political,  if  not  religious,  could  be  devised.  The  purely 
philanthropic  work  of  the  Latin  Church,  her  orphanages, 
her  asylums  for  the  old,  the  blind,  the  deformed,  the  imbecile, 
her  training  schools,  her  workshops,  have  never  been  imitated 
even  by  the  Greek  Church,  much  less  by  the  English  mission- 
aries. 

In  education,  however,  Russia  has  now  seen  her  way  to 
some  individuality  of  effort,  and  in  this  direction  she  has 
already  far  distanced  her  co-religionists  the  Greeks,  although 
it  was  only  in  April  of  1902  that  she  received  a  firman 
empowering  her  to  open  schools  at  will.  Since  then,  over 
a  hundred  schools  have  been  opened  in  Galilee  alone. 

84 


RUSSIA   IN   JERUSALEM 

Russia  has  seen,  as  the  Latin  Church  long  since  saw,  that 
in  the  intelligent,  quick-witted  Arab,  properly  trained,  and 
under  the  right  influence,  she  might  find  a  powerful  ally 
and  propagandist.  It  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception 
in  the  villages  around  Jerusalem  to  find  that  the  pere  cure 
is  a  native,  an  example  which  the  English  missions  would 
have  done  well  to  follow,  and  which  has  been  inculcated  by 
the  Anglican  bishop  in  Jerusalem.  Such  a  priest  is  a  man 
of  like  passions  with  the  people,  understanding  their  lan- 
guage, nature,  and  temperament  as  no  occidental  can  ever 
hope  to  do.  Probably  conscious  of  the  weakness  of  their 
own  position,  the  Greek  and  the  Protestant  have  never 
wholly  trusted  the  Arab,  and  consequently  are  apt  to  report 
him  unworthy  of  confidence.  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon 
to  find  Arabs  in  the  Latin  convents,  both  men  and  women ; 
indeed  two  orders,  the  Peres  Blancs  d'Afrique,  and  the 
Sceurs  du  Rosaire  are  largely  recruited  from  the  native 
population.  The  English,  however,  seldom  admit  natives 
to  positions  of  full  confidence,  and  the  Greek  monks  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  went  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  house  Monsignor 
Gerasimos,  then  an  archimandrite,  afterwards  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  when  he  arrived  there  as  secretary  to  Monsignor 
Nicodemos,  on  account  of  his  Arab  origin,  and  in  spite  of  his 
well  known  piety  and  erudition. 

The  first  time  that  Russia  fully  revealed  a  contrary 
policy  was  at  the  time  when  Bulgaria  separated  herself 
(1872)  from  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  and  was 
consequently  anathematized  by  the  three  Patriarchs  of 
Constantinople,  Antioch  and  Alexandria.  Monsignor  Cyril, 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  alone  refused  to  express  disapproval, 
thereby  drawing  upon  himself  the  indignation,  not  only  of 
his  brother  ecclesiastics,  but  of  his  flock  in  Jerusalem,  with 
the  exception  of  its  native  element ;  which,  it  may  be  con- 
ceived, had  a  certain  personal  sympathy  with  the  position 
of  the  Bulgarians  and  with  their  desire  for  freedom.  Russia, 
who  had  long  worked  for  the  dissociation  of  the  churches 

85 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

of  the  principalities  of  the  Balkans  from  the  Patriarchate 
of  Constantinople,  showed  signs  of  quiet  satisfaction,  and 
the  native  thus  became,  as  it  were,  for  the  first  time  the 
pioneer  of  Russian  policy  in  Palestine.  The  Greek  monks, 
in  sign  of  displeasure,  closed  schools,  churches  and  hospitals 
against  the  native  element,  upon  which  Russia,  unable  at 
that  time  to  open  schools  on  behalf  of  the  Arabs,  by  sympa- 
thy and  practical  aid  encouraged  a  considerable  number  of 
young  natives  to  come  to  her  own  seminaries  for  education. 
Hitherto  the  only  places  available  for  the  higher  education 
of  the  Arab  had  been  in  the  schools  of  the  Latins  and  in 
the  admirably  efficient  College  of  American  Missionaries  in 
Beirut.  A  Greek  elementary  school,  preparatory  to  the 
Seminary  of  the  Convent  of  the  Cross,  was  indeed  open  to 
all,  but  higher  studies  were  not  encouraged,  and  the  native 
students  of  the  more  advanced  course,  averaged  but  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  whole.  Now,  however,  they  had 
easy  means  of  first-class  instruction  among  those  of  their 
own  faith  ;  in  Russia  they  were  admitted  to  hold  offices 
civil  and  military,  and  to  become  professors,  and  when  they 
returned  to  Palestine  as  priests  or  teachers  it  was  with  a 
grateful  sense  of  duty  towards  their  benefactors. 

Even  the  chance  visitor  to  the  churches  of  the  Russians 
and  Greeks,  respectively,  cannot  but  remark  the  great 
difference  in  at  least  the  outside  presentation  of  the  same 
religion,  in  the  contrast  of  the  beautiful  and  harmonious 
music  of  the  one  with  the  barbarous  nasal  twanging  of  the 
other  ;  cannot  but  admire  the  decoration,  the  really  beautiful 
pictures  to  be  found  in  the  Russian  Cathedral  and  in  the 
church  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  as  well  as  the 
greater  cleanliness  and  orderliness  of  all  their  ecclesiastical 
appointments . 

In  this  connexion,  however,  it  is  only  fair  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that,  so  far  as  one  can  see,  Russia  is  not  walking 
in  another  path,  but  only  ahead  of  her  co-religionists. 
Their  jealousies  and  oppositions  are  racial,  not  religious. 

86 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

The  Greek  Church  has  benefited  largely  by  Russian  liber- 
ality, not  only  in  gifts  to  convents  and  in  contributions  to 
the  general  support  of  her  institutions,  but  also  in  special 
gifts  for  the  beautifying  of  the  Catholicon  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  display  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silver, 
of  jewelled  mitres,  of  pectoral  chains  and  crosses,  of  mon- 
strances and  reliquaries,  to  be  seen  in  the  festival  processions, 
could  hardly  have  been  collected  without  the  liberality  of 
the  wealthier  nation,1  a  liberality  all  the  more  generous 
that  the  Greeks  have  been  extremely  tenacious  of  their 
privileges  and  have  made  constantly  renewed  difficulties 
as  to  three  points  which  the  Russians  have  greatly  at  heart, 
namely,  permission,  if  only  once  in  the  week,  for  a  mass 
said  by  the  Russian  Archimandrite  either  at  the  altar  upon 
Calvary  or  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre ;  the  admission  of 
Russian  monks  to  serve  as  guides  to  Russian  pilgrims 
visiting  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ;  and  the  residence  of  a  Russian 
Archimandrite  within  the  walls  of  the  Greek  convent. 

The  Greek  Patriarchate  at  Jerusalem  has  always  been 
"  a  close  borough,"  and  it  need  hardly  be  said  that  to  place 
it  on  a  broader  footing  has  long  been  the  policy  of  Russia, 
equally  with  the  utilization  of  the  Arab,  although  those  who 
allege  that  she  would  internationalize  the  office  and  would 
throw  it  open  to  the  candidature  not  only  of  Russians,  but 
of  Arabs,  Bulgarians  and  Servians,  may  possibly  overstate 
the  case.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  in  spite  of  much 
opposition,  fortified  by  an  appeal  to  the  Patriarchates  of 

1  It  is  alleged  that  the  Russian  pilgrims  are  a  considerable  source 
of  ecclesiastical  revenue,  as  it  is  calculated  that  each  spends,  on  an 
average,  some  £10  in  the  country,  of  which  a  considerable  proportion 
is  paid  for  candles,  masses,  and  fees  to  priests  on  various  occasions. 
Moreover  it  is  said  that,  after  their  return  home,  additional  and 
supplementary  offerings  are  forwarded,  amounting  in  the  aggregate 
to  many  thousands  of  pounds,  sums  which  naturally,  though  in- 
tended for  the  Greek  priests  at  the  Holy  Places,  have  to  pass 
through  the  Russian  Consulate,  a  fact  which,  all  else  apart,  might  well 
and  naturally  suggest  the  importance  of  obtaining  a  national  share 
in  the  ceremonies  of  Bethlehem,  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  elsewhere. 

87 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Constantinople  and  Jerusalem,  Russia  has  succeeded  in 
placing  a  native  upon  the  Patriarchal  chair  of  Antioch,  and 
in  obtaining  his  official  recognition  by  the  Sultan.  The 
patriarch  of  Antioch  has  his  residence  at  Damascus,  which 
has  long  been  a  centre  of  Syrian  "  orthodoxy,"  and  has 
had  several  native  bishops,  and  it  is  even  alleged  that  it 
was  in  view  of  this  candidature  that  Damascus  was  raised 
from  a  vice-consulate  to  a  consulate.  It  is  at  least  difficult 
to  assign  any  other  reason  in  a  city  where  there  are  few 
resident  Russians  and  where  Russia  has  little  commercial 
interest. 

Another  point  in  Russian  policy,  somewhat  akin  to  her 
protection  of  the  Arab,  is  her  alleged  inclination  to  protect 
what  may  be  called  the  "  dispossessed  sects."  Those  who 
fondly  imagine  that  it  is  only  among  dissenters  from  Angli- 
canism, or  in  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the  Continent 
that  heresies  and  schisms  tend  to  multiply,  should  visit 
Jerusalem  and  try  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the 
varieties  who  worship  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
alone.  There  are  two  sects  whom  the  Russians  might 
conceivably  annex,  and  who,  if  not  very  numerous,  might 
at  least  be  counted  upon  to  strengthen  her  hands  against 
then1  common  opponent,  the  Latin  Church,  namely,  the 
Georgians  and  the  Abyssinians:  The  Georgian  Christians, 
have  been  since  1802,  legally  subject  to  Russia,  so  that  to 
befriend  them  is  only  natural,  although  one  may  question 
whether  she  is  likely  to  go  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  restore 
to  them  their  former  share  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  namely, 
the  Chapel  of  Adam  and  one  of  the  altars  on  Calvary,  of 
which  the  Greeks  took  possession  after  the  fire  of  1808. 

Russia  is  also  kindly  disposed,  it  is  said,  towards  the 
Abyssinians,  who  formerly  possessed  the  Chapel  of  St. 
Helena,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Armenians,  and  the  Chapel 
of  the  Opprobrium,  now  owned  by  the  Greeks.  Moreover, 
they  formerly  possessed  the  right  of  sharing  in  the  cere- 
monial of  the  Greek  Fire,  a  performance  by  the  way  which, 

88 


RUSSIA  IN  JERUSALEM 

it  is  said,  is  seriously  disapproved  by  the  Russians,  who,  not 
only  better  instructed  themselves,  but  more  ambitious  for 
their  people,  would  willingly  have  it  discontinued.  Russia 
is  indeed  the  religious  protector  of  the  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Syrians,  Copts  and  Abyssinians,  who  all  follow  the  oriental 
rites  and  profess  practically  the  same  faith. 

Although  by  the  treaty  of  1774  with  the  Sublime  Porte, 
Catherine  II  became  protector  of  "  the  orthodox  "  in  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  and  thus  of  the  pilgrims  to  Palestine, 
which  even  then  outnumbered  those  of  the  Latin  Church, 
it  was  not  until  1844  that  a  representative  of  the  Russian 
Church,  in  the  person  of  an  Archimandrite,  arrived  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  not  until  1858,  after  the  Crimean  war,  that  a 
consulate  was  established,  shortly  after  which  Russia  began 
to  acquire  property.  Naturally  her  ambition  was,  like 
that  of  all  religious  bodies  in  Jerusalem,  to  gain  possession 
of  ground  in  or  about  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and,  difficult 
as  it  was,  even  this  has  been  accomplished,  a  church  and  a 
hospice  erected,  which  if  Russia  should  ever  succeed  in 
acquiring  the  intervening  buildings  of  the  Abyssinian 
convent,  would  be  brought  into  actual  touch  with  the 
coveted  sacred  spot.  Now,  moreover,  in  addition  to  the 
immense  estate  north  of  the  city  she  has  a  share  of  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane,  where  a  beautiful  church  has  been 
built  at  the  cost  of  the  Imperial  family  (consecrated  in  1888) ; 
also  considerable  property  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  at 
St.  John's,  Jaffa,  Jericho,  Nazareth,  Tiberias,  Ramallah, 
and  indeed  almost  all  the  historical  places  in  the  Holy 
Land.  Although,  as  already  mentioned,  it  is  only  since 
1902  that  general  permission  has  been  obtained  for 
building  schools  in  Palestine,  nevertheless  they  have 
multiplied  rapidly,  to  the  provocation  of  great  jealousy 
among  the  Greeks  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  at  Tiberias, 
Nazareth,  Damascus  and  even  in  the  wild  and  distant 
Hauran,  east  of  the  Jordan.  In  1890,  at  the  desire  of  the 
Emperor,  considerable  additions  were  made  to  the  ecclesi- 

89 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

astical  staff,  and  in  1893  an  Ambassador  was  established 
at  Rome,  probably  having  regard  to  the  relations  of  Russia 
with  Palestine,  where  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  are 
more  especially  brought  into  touch,  and  where  every  event 
has  its  religious  aspect. 

According  to  an  article  in  IS  Echo  d1  Orient  (1898)  Russia 
even  proposes  to  enter  the  fields  of  higher  education,  which 
hitherto,  in  Syria,  have  belonged  exclusively  to  the  Jesuits 
and  the  American  missionaries;  who  have  carried  on  an 
admirable  rivalry  in  arts,  science  and  medicine  at 
Beirut. 

So  far,  what  we  have  had  to  say  upon  the  presence  of 
Russia  in  Palestine,  has  been,  on  the  whole,  of  good  work 
accomplished,  of  something  practical  achieved  among  her  co- 
religionists, the  Greeks,  or  among  the  people  of  the  country. 
But  we  may  not  forget  the  lesson  taught  us  by  the  "  incident 
of  the  Russian  Tower "  ;  we  must  remember  that  as  it 
stands  upon  that  lofty  eminence,  the  most  conspicuous 
object  in  the  whole  district,  impossible  to  ignore,  a  part  of 
the  perspective  of  the  country,  ostensibly  a  feature  of  its 
religious  life,  so  also  Russia  fixes  her  gaze,  not  only 
upon  the  East  with  its  interests,  its  faith,  its  distant  hope, 
but  upon  the  West,  with  its  civilization,  its  history,  its 
traditions.  So  far,  we  have  dealt  with  the  relations  between 
Russia  and  Greece,  which,  despite  racial  and  political 
difference,  have  nevertheless  for  object  the  propaganda  of 
the  same  faith.  From  the  point  of  view  of  religion,  they 
unite  against  a  common  foe,  and,  so  far,  the  work  of  Russia, 
as  we  have  seen  it,  has  been  creative,  constructive,  synthetic. 
We  have  now  the  more  difficult  task  of  attempting  to  review 
her  attitude  in  Jerusalem  towards  the  Western  faith,  and 
here  we  find  that  her  influence,  naturally  enough,  tends  to 
be  disintegrating,  destructive,  aggressive. 

Thanks  mainly  to  the  policy  which  has  permitted,  until 
lately,  that  the  Church  of  England  should  present  herself 
in  the  Holy  Land  hand  in  hand  with  the  "  Reformed 

90 


RUSSIA   IN   JERUSALEM 

Church "  of  Germany,1  the  "  Protestant "  influence  in 
Jerusalem  has  long  been  an  almost  negligible  quantity 
except  as  represented  by  Germany.  Figures  are  here 
difficult  to  arrive  at,  but  the  latest  English  Baedeker 
quotes  1,400  Protestants  as  against  4,000  Latins  and  6,000 
Greeks  ;  or  in  both  cases,  counting  sects,  4,250  Latins  and 
7,000  Greeks  ;  the  two  combined  being  about  one-third 
more  than  the  Mussulman  population.  Germany  has  a 
handsome  new  church,  the  gift  of  the  Emperor,  a  hospital 
under  the  very  efficient  care  of  the  Kaiserwerth  deacon- 
esses, the  only  Leper  Hospital  in  Syria,  and  large  and 
flourishing  schools  and  orphanages  of  so  practical  a  kind 
that  it  is  rumoured  that,  unlike  other  missionary  institu- 
tions, they  produce  craftsmen,  trained  nurses,  and  even 
domestic  servants.  But  with  this  Russia  is  not  concerned. 
For  Russia  the  Latin  Church  means  France,  however 
anomalous  it  may  be  that  France  should,  anywhere,  be 
definitely  identified  with  religion:  Many  French  Orders 
are  largely  represented  in  Jerusalem  :  the  Assumptionists, 
Dominicans,  Benedictines,  the  Peres  Blancs  d'Afrique, 
the  Freres  Chretiens  ;  and  among  women,  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul  (who,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  are  entrusted 
by  the  Turkish  Government  with  the  charge  of  the  Municipal 
Hospital),  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the  Sisters  of  the 
Rosary.  In  addition  to  these  sisters,  whose  active  good  work 
is  equally  beyond  all  measure  and  all  praise,  there  are  the 
less  useful  Orders  of  the  Carmelites,  the  Clarisses  and  the 
Marie  Eeparatrices.  There  is  also  the  unique  Order  of 
the  Soeurs  de  Sion,  whose  work  is  especially  among  the  Jews. 
The  Franciscans,  who  are  in  charge  of  55  sanctuaries, 
9  convents,  18  mission  churches,  and  34  chapels,  and 

1  One  can  hardly  wonder  that  the  fact  is  thus  stated  by  Alphonse 
d' Alonzo,  formerly  attache  at  the  French  Consulate  in  Jerusalem : 
"  Les  adeptes  de  Luther  se  firent  representer  sur  le  sol  de  la  Terre 
Sainte  ;  un  eveque  protestant  designe  par  1'Angleterre  et  1'Alle- 
magne  unies  s'y  installa." 

91 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

have  over  4,000  children  in  their  schools,  are,  techni- 
cally, international,  speaking  eleven  different  languages  ; 
but,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  their  Superior, 
the  Pere  Custode,  is,  by  tradition,  always  Italian,  and, 
in  their  capacity  of  Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places 
they  are  under  the  protection  of  France.  We  thus  arrive 
at  the  anomaly  that  whereas,  until  the  comparatively 
recent  local  activity  of  Russia,  the  Greek  religion  was 
under  the  sole  protection  of  the  Turk,  the  Latin  religion  is 
under  the  protection  of  the  French  ;  hence  we  have  the 
Latin  religion  protected  by  a  power  which  is  not  religious, 
and  the  Greek  religion  by  a  power  which  is  not  Christian. 
One  must,  however,  regard  the  question  of  the  Holy  Places 
as  too  large  to  be  merely  national.  They  are  supported 
by  men  and  by  alms,  not  only  from  the  whole  of  Western 
Europe,  but  from  America  as  well ;  indeed  the  active  interest 
and  actual  work  done  by  the  new  world  in  and  for  the  Holy 
Land  would  be  a  revelation  to  those  who  have  not  had 
occasion  to  consider  the  question  on  the  spot.  Russia  is 
therefore  in  daily  and  active  relation  with  two  powers — 
Greece  whom  she  is  trying  to  drag  along,  France  whom  she 
is  trying  to  repulse.  All  that  she  can  gain — for  herself 
if  possible,  but  if  not,  for  Greece,  or  even  for  the  Syrians, 
Copts,  Armenians,  Abyssinians — is  so  much  subtracted 
from  France ;  here  the  privilege  of  saying  an  additional 
Mass,  there  of  lighting  a  lamp,  of  using  a  doorway,  or  even, 
it  may  be  of  sweeping  a  stair. 

The  heart  of  Jerusalem,  its  Holy  of  Holies,  and  alas  ! 
its  battlefield,  is  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Here, 
as  in  the  Holy  Stable  of  Bethlehem,  while  the  Christians 
pray,  the  Turkish  soldiery  must  sit  by  to  see  that  they  do 
not  steal,  nor  even  murder.  This  is  no  figure  of  speech. 
Under  the  altar  which  marks  the  birthplace  of  our  Lord 
there  is  a  silver  star  which  belongs  to  the  Latins.  In  1847 
it  was  stolen,  it  is  believed,  by  the  Greeks.  Replaced  in 
1852,  another  attempt  to  carry  it  off  was  made  in  1873. 

92 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

Close  by  the  same  spot  in  1893  the  Latin  sacristan  was 
killed,  and  three  of  his  companions  injured  by  the  Cawass 
of  the  Russian  pilgrims,  who  fired  his  revolver  on  being 
requested  to  make  way  for  the  passage  of  the  procession ; 
and,  so  lately  as  in  November  1901,  seventeen  Franciscans 
were  severely  wounded  by  the  Greeks  in  the  courtyard 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

Some  of  the  occasions  of  dispute  are  so  trivial  that  one 
hesitates  to  describe  them,  so  difficult  would  it  be  for  any 
one  not  on  the  spot  to  focus  such  incidents  correctly.  And 
in  truth  they  are,  in  most  cases,  the  occasion,  not  the  cause  ; 
the  causes  often  being  far  to  seek,  difficult  to  explain,  and 
of  extreme  complexity.  Moreover  one  has  to  realize 
the  enormous  importance  in  this  country  of  precedent. 
In  1852,  the  Government,  doubtless  perplexed  by  the 
counter  claim  of  rival  Churches  over  questions  of  ritual 
and  privilege,  little  adapted  to  the  Moslem  understanding, 
issued  a  firman  ordaining  the  statu  quo,  extending  over 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  Church  at  Bethlehem  as  well 
as  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin  at  Gethsemane,  in  which  the 
Latins  have  now  lost  all  rights.  This,  naturally  enough, 
each  party  has  ever  since  been  scheming  to  evade.  In 
1888,  for  instance,  during  the  visit  of  the  Grand  Dukes 
Sergius  and  Paul,  the  Russian  archimandrite  said  Mass  in 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  contrary  to  precedent,  on  three  con- 
secutive days,  against  which  the  Latins  felt  bound  to 
protest.  On  the  other  hand,  during  the  Congress  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist  in  1893  the  Latins  allowed  the  "  united  " 
Catholics  of  some  other  rite  to  say  Mass  on  Mount  Calvary, 
upon  which  the  Greeks  lodged  a  complaint  with  the  Governor. 
It  is  a  most  literal  case  of  "  great  landscapes  seen  through 
small  openings,"  and  in  some  cases  one  must  be  on  the  spot 
to  appreciate  their  magnitude. 

The  Greeks  and  French,  as  it  were,  got  the  start  of  Russia, 
who  manifested  little  interest  in  the  Holy  Places,  as  such, 
until  they  became  of  some  political  significance.  In  1841 

93 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

France  established  a  consulate  and  became  the  recognized 
protector  of  the  Latin  Church.  In  1847  Pope  Pius  IX  re- 
vived the  Latin  patriarchate.  In  1857,  after  the  Crimean 
war,  Russia  for  the  first  time  actively  occupied  herself  with 
the  affairs  of  the  Holy  Land,  and,  together  with  France  and 
Turkey,  signed  the  protocol  on  the  subject  of  the  re-con- 
struction of  the  dome  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  a  fact  of  the 
more  importance  that,  on  the  last  occasion  of  its  repair,  1808, 
the  matter  had  rested  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of 
Greece,  the  opportunity  when  she  annexed  many  privileges 
confirmed  to  her  by  the  statu  quo,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  Russia  and  the  humiliation  of  France ;  an  instance 
sometimes  quoted  in  illustration  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
Latin  position.  The  Czar,  it  is  said,  on  those  rare  occasions 
when  he  resorts  to  arbitration  instead  of  gaining  ends  by 
subtlety  and  diplomacy,  never  allows  his  party  to  experience 
a  check,  whereas  France  is  interested  only  from  the  political, 
and  cares  practically  nothing  for  the  religious  side,  as  such. 

In  1897  at  Bethlehem  another  long  disputed  case  of 
violation  of  the  statu  quo  was  again  lost  to  the  Franciscans. 
The  Grotto  of  the  Nativity  is  approached  by  two  staircases 
from  north  and  south,  opening  into  the  Latin  and  Greek 
Churches  respectively.  On  the  evening  of  the  Greek 
Easter,  which  coincides  with  our  Epiphany,  a  Greek  pro- 
cession sought  egress  through  the  former,  and  as  a  matter 
of  precedent  was  resolutely  opposed  by  the  Franciscans. 
The  Russian  Consular  Agent,  who  was  present,  was  loud 
in  protestation ;  first  the  Governor  of  Bethlehem  and  then 
the  French  Consul  were  sent  for,  and,  greatly  to  the 
surprise  of  those  whom  he  "  protected,"  the  Franciscans 
were  required  to  withdraw. 

Thus,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  is  precedent  created,  and 
where  so  many  opposing  forces  meet  on  so  small  a  battle- 
field, as  for  example  five  creeds  within  the  walls  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  the  very  smallest  encroachment  becomes 
of  consequence.  It  would  be  no  impossibility  for  either 

94 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

France  or  Russia  to  absorb  the  rights  of  the  nation  she 
protects,  and  by  diminishing  the  number  of  the  combatants 
enlarge  the  extent  of  the  interests  at  stake.  Now  and  then 
some  point  in  dispute  is  settled  by  the  appearance  of  yet 
another  claimant.  A  curious  example  of  this  was  afforded 
when  the  Latins  and  Greeks  were  unable  to  settle  their 
rival  claims  to  the  church  discovered  at  the  Pool  of  Siloam; 
While  the  quarrel  was  proceeding  the  Mohammedans  ran 
up  a  minaret  and  the  matter  was  decided. 

Russia  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  obtaining  proprietary 
rights  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  but  their 
acquisition  is  by  no  means  impossible,  though  both  Greeks 
and  Latins  are,  for  once,  of  the  same  opinion  as  to  the 
expediency  of  restraining  her  ambitions  in  this  direction. 
Policy  or  poverty  may  conceivably  appeal  to  either  the 
Armenians  or  the  Abyssinians  on  her  behalf,  and  the  more 
often  the  statu  quo  is  violated  in  small  things  the  easier 
will  it  be,  when  the  time  comes,  to  carry  the  matter  with  a 
high  hand,  as  at  Bethlehem  in  1897.  A  Russian  journal 
the  Mosh  Vedom  of  January  2  and  14,  1894,  has  not  hesi- 
tated to  put  the  suggestion  into  words.  "  As  the  Armenians 
are  not  in  communion  with  our  Church  we  can  act  in  relation 
to  them  without  compunction,  the  more  that  they  are  the 
oppressors  of  the  inoffensive  and  simple  African  Christians 
(Abyssinians)  to  whom  it  will  be  possible  to  offer  liberal  and 
advantageous  terms." 

Year  by  year,  it  is  said,  towards  the  time  of  the  Greek 
Christmas,  application  is  made  to  the  protecting  authority 
for  permission  to  prevent  the  unseemly  passage  of  the 
Greek  procession  by  the  north  staircase  at  Bethlehem, 
and  year  by  year  the  authority  finds  new  methods  to  "  put 
the  question  by."  One  can  hardly  expect  religious  enthu- 
siasm from  a  nation  which  politically  owns  no  religion, 
and  to  be  obliged  to  attend  officially  at  long  religious  func- 
tions in  which  he  may  not  be  personally  interested  must  pall 
upon  the  most  devoted  servant  of  his  country,  even  though 

95 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

the  service  will  be  delayed  for  him  however  late  he  may 
arrive,  though  his  attendants  will  be  tolerated  whatever 
their  manners  and  customs,  and  even  when  he  is  placed  in 
a  conspicuous  position  in  an  arm-chair  of  early  Victorian 
design,  covered  tastefully  in  green  reps  with  purple  and 
magenta  stripes. 

But  that  these  things  are  not  so  trivial  as  they  may  seem 
at  first  sight,  was  abundantly  demonstrated  by  the  tragedy 
of  November  1901,  described  in  a  later  chapter.  It  was 
again  a  question  of  statu  quo  and  again  an  instance  of  a 
trifling  occasion  and  a  serious  cause.  The  Greeks  disputed 
the  right  of  the  Franciscans  to  sweep  certain  steps  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  on  a  certain  day 
prepared  themselves  for  attack  by  taking  on  to  the  roof 
heavy  stones,  and,  it  is  even  said,  burning  tow  to  hurl  from 
the  security  of  their  lofty  position  upon  their  defenceless 
victims  in  the  court  below.  The  Franciscans  would  not 
even  defend  themselves,  much  less  resent  attack,  until 
they  received  orders  from  headquarters,  but  merely  occupied 
the  steps,  and  by  their  mere  presence  defended  the  position. 

The  Turkish  soldiers,  always  on  guard  at  the  entrance, 
were  called  out,  and  order  was  at  length  restored,  happily 
without  the  firing  of  a  single  shot,  for  the  slightest  sign  of 
disorder  would  almost  certainly  have  been  followed  by  an 
emeute.  It  is  alleged  that  a  considerable  number  of 
"  roughs  "  were  waiting  for  the  smallest  excuse  to  make 
a  rush  for  the  church,  and  the  treasure  it  contains.  As 
usual  upon  all  public  occasions,  the  Turkish  soldiers  were 
orderly  and  prompt.  One  never  fails  to  admire  their  quiet, 
one  had  almost  said  their  respectful,  conduct  at  the  Holy 
Places  which  for  them  can  have  neither  interest  nor 
meaning. 

It  is  satisfactory  that  when  after  nearly  nine  months' 
delay  the  matter  was  at  length  brought  to  trial,  a  new  pre- 
cedent was  established,  which  may  lead  to  very  important 
results  and  be  far  reaching  in  its  ultimate  issues,  namely, 

96 


Tm:  DAMASCUS  GATE 


RUSSIA   IN  JERUSALEM 

that  the  Germans  and  Italians  were  brought  before  their 
respective  consuls  instead  of  the  matter  being  decided 
between  the  French  and  the  Turks,  as  would  have  been 
the  ordinary  procedure. 

Truly  the  crust  of  civilization  is  still  somewhat  thin  in 
the  East,  and  one  cannot  but  feel  that  the  position  is  tem- 
porary and  the  period  one  of  transition.  The  Russians,  as 
we  have  seen,  can  show  a  consistent  policy  and  magnificent 
organization ;  France,  ineffective  on  the  political  side, 
upholds  institutions  of  practical  piety  and  good  works  ;  the 
Greeks  maintain  a  dignified  independence  ;  the  Arabs 
are  developing  a  divine  discontent ;  Germany  exercises 
a  magnificent  philanthropy ;  the  Jews  excel  in  num- 
bers, in  combination  and  in  hope.  England  ? — well 
England  is  busy  elsewhere.  Meanwhile  Turkey  is  in 
possession.  What  next  ?  The  Syrian  himself,  who  has 
lived  on  the  soil  since  long  before  the  Mosaic  immigra- 
tion, who  was  a  Christian  when  our  ancestors  offered  human 
sacrifice,  raises  his  indifferent  eyes  to  Heaven~and  says, 
"Do  I  know?  God  knows."  Laalam9  Allah  yaallam. 


97 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  GREEKS  IN   JERUSALEM 

THE  GREEK  CHURCH — ITS  ANTIQUITY — ITS  AUTHORITY — 
LATIN  PATRIARCHS  IN  JERUSALEM,  1204-1260 — END 
OF  THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE — THE  EASTERN  CHURCH — 
ITS  GOVERNMENT — EDUCATION  OF  CLERGY — CHARIT- 
ABLE AND  PHILANTHROPIC  UNDERTAKINGS — CONVENTS 
— THE  GREEK  FIRE — MISUNDERSTANDING  AND  EXAG- 
GERATION— EARLY  HISTORY — As  IT  WAS  IN  1902 — IN 
1820 

ONE  of  the  most  perplexing  of  the  many  social  prob- 
lems which  confront  the  resident  in  Jerusalem  is 
that  of  the  presence  of  the  Greek  element,  national  and 
religious, — perplexing  at  first  on  account  of  its  novelty, 
afterwards  even  more  on  account  of  such  elements  as 
increased  familiarity  cannot  fail  to  present.  Most  of  us 
know,  vaguely,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Greece,  Russia, 
and  certain  of  those  smaller  states  of  Europe  which  are 
always  having  rebellions,  massacres  and  earthquakes, 
belong  to  the  Greek  Church  ;  we  know  that  a  certain  part 
of  London,  north  of  Hyde  Park,  is  known  as  "  Asia  Minor," 
and  that  there  you  may  meet  ecclesiastics  in  flowing  black 
robes,  hats  which  appear  to  be  put  on  upside  down,  copious 
beards,  and  chignons.  The  "  runagates  "  who  go  about 
from  church  to  church,  and  in  consequence  "  continue  in 
scarceness,"  will  add  that  the  service-books  are  magnifi- 
cently decorated,  and  the  music  hardly  to  be  described 
as  such.  Arrived  in  Jerusalem,  you  may  easily  learn  that 
the  Greeks  more  than  twice  out-number  the  Latins  and 

98 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

more  than  five  times  the  miscellaneous  body  known 
as  "  Protestants "  ;  that  when  the  Greeks  are  fasting' 
which  occurs  on  about  226  days  in  the  year,  meat  is  cheap  ; 
that  they  quarrel  a  good  deal  with  the  Latins,  resent  the 
immigration  of  the  Russians,  and  own  many  convents 
and  houses  in  and  about  Jerusalem.  One  soon  arrives  at 
the  further  stage  of  discovering  that  not  only  is  the  Greek 
Church  obviously  divided  into  Greek  and  Russian,  having 
separate  churches,  convents,  and  schools,  but  that  the 
Greeks  are  further  subdivided  into  some  six  or  seven 
varieties  at  least. 

Probably  nowhere  else  but  in  Jerusalem  could  one  so 
effectively  learn  that  England  and  America  are  not  the 
only  happy  hunting  grounds  for  the  supporters  of  "  false 
doctrine,  heresy,  and  schism  "  ;  the  difference  being  that 
here  dissent  is  hoary  with  antiquity,  and  (comparatively) 
reputable  by  association  with  Church  Councils.  "  The 
Sunnites,"  says  Lady  Burton,  "  excommunicate  the  Shiahs, 
both  hate  the  Druses,  all  detest  the  Ansariyehs,  all  despise 
the  Jews.  The  higher  classes  want  place  and  power,  the 
lower,  money  and  European  protection.  .  .  .  The  fourteen 
Christian  sects  wrangle  at  the  Holy  Places.  Others  have 
come  to  teach  us  better."  She  might  have  added  that  the 
"others  "  only  do  not  wrangle  at  the  Holy  Places  because  they 
are  excluded,  a  fact  which  they  do  not  appear  to  regret. 

To  the  Western  Churches,  Latin  and  Anglican  alike, 
it  cannot  but  be  startling,  probably  offensive,  to  be  told 
that  they  are  a  schism,  a  dissent  from  the  oldest  church 
in  the  world,  the  "  Greek  Orthodox  "  ;  and  yet,  in  a  certain 
historical  sense,  the  statement  is  susceptible  of  proof. 

"  The  Church  of  Rome,"  says  Dean  Stanley,  "  is  a  Greek 
Church — a  colony  of  Greek  Christian  and  Grecized  Jews. 
"  Greek  Christianity,"  says  the  author  of  one  of  the  best1 
recognized  books  of  reference  on  the  subject,  "  is  the  parent 
of  Latin  Christianity,  and  the  Churches  of  Rome  and 

1  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  A.  H.  Hore,  1899. 

99 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

England  are  really,  in  the  present  divided  state  of  Chris- 
tendom, separated  limbs  of  the  Greek  Church."  Dean 
Milman  puts  the  position  thus  :  "  For  some  considerable 
(it  cannot  but  be  an  indefinable)  part  of  the  first  three 
centuries  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
Churches  of  the  West,  were,  if  we  may  so  speak,  Greek 
religious  colonies  ;  their  writers  Greek,  their  Scriptures 
Greek,  and  many  vestiges  and  traditions  show  that  their 
ritual,  their  liturgy,  was  Greek.  ..." 

Of  the  three  hundred  Bishops  present  at  the  Councils 
of  Nice,  325  A.D.,  eight  only  represented  the  Western  Church  ; 
and  at  the  Council  of  Constantinople,  when  the  heresy  of 
Macedonius  was  condemned  and  the  Nicene  Creed  formu- 
lated, not  a  single  Western  Bishop  was  present.  It  has 
been  remarked  by  several  writers  that  the  Greek  language 
was  the  more  adapted  for  dealing  with  the  subtleties  of 
heresy,  the  Latin  for  the  science  of  dogmatic  theology. 

"  Whatever  we  may  think,"  says  Dr.  Wordsworth, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury,1  "  of  the  claims  of  the  modern  Greeks 
to  be  descendants  of  the  countrymen  of  Homer  and 
Thucydides,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  Greek  Church  has 
a  continuous  succession  from  the  great  Fathers,  Athanasius, 
Basil,  the  Gregories,  Chrysostom,  and  the  rest.2  .  .  . 
Even  the  most  uninstructed  English  Churchman  is  familiar 
with,  and  has  a  veneration  for,  the  Nicene  Creed,  the  faith 
defended  by  St.  Athanasius,  and  the  liturgy  of  St.  Chry- 
sostom, and  when  he  opens  his  Prayer-Book  is  reminded 
of  all  three,  even "  (he  adds  characteristically)  "  though 
the  reminders  be  wanting  in  strict  literal  accuracy."  3 

1  In  a  lecture  on  The  Church  of  England  and  the  Eastern  Patriarchate 
delivered  at  Oxford,  July  1898. 

2  Shall  we  forget  that  "  the  rest  "  include  Polycarp,  Justin  Martyr, 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Ignatius  and  Gregory  Thaumaturgus  ? 

3  The  reference  is  mainly  to  the  dispute  upon  the  filioque  clause 
in  the  Nicene  creed,  the  Eastern  Church  alone  preserving  the  original 
form  "  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,'"  whereas  both  the  Western 
Churches  have  added  the  phrase,  "  and  the  Son." 

100 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  six  General  Councils,  whose  decisions  were  accepted 
throughout  Christendom,  were  all  held  in  the  East,  and 
conducted  in  the  Greek  language.  The  Eastern  Church, 
in  a  certain  historic  sense,  can  show  claim  to  be,  not  only 
the  Mother  Church  of  Christianity,  but  also  the  parent 
of  Theology.  Among  the  early  Fathers,  Tertullian  alone 
wrote  in  Latin,  and  even  he  was  resident  in  Carthage.  The 
principal  writers  of  early  ecclesiastical  history  were  all 
Greeks  :  Eusebius,  Socrates,  Sozomen,  Theodoret.  A 
synod  of  the  Greek  Church  held  at  Laodicea  in  367  A.D. 
determined  the  canon  of  Scripture.  It  was  not  till  the 
pontificate  of  Damasus  (366-384)  that  the  Vulgate  edition 
of  the  Bible  was  translated  at  Bethlehem  by  St.  Jerome, 
and  that  the  Scriptures  first  became  Latinized,  having 
hitherto  been  commonly  known  only  in  the  form  of  the 
Septuagint  and  the  Greek  Testament. 

The  first  bishop  of  the  Christian  Church  was  St.  James, 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  earliest  centre  of  Greek  Chris- 
tianity was  Antioch  (Acts  xi.  11),  presided  over,  according 
to  ecclesiastical  tradition,  for  seven  years  by  St.  Peter, 
for  which  reason  Pope  Innocent  I  claimed  for  it  a  special 
dignity.  Evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  See  of  Rome 
was  not  created  till  between  64  A.D.  (when  we  know  that 
St.  Peter  was  at  Babylon)  and  June  29  A.D.  68,  the  date 
of  his  martyrdom  in  Rome.  After  Constantino,  the  first 
Christian  Emperor,  had,  in  327,  removed  the  seat  of 
Government  to  Constantinople, — Rome,  Constantinople, 
Antioch,  and  Alexandria  were  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
patriarchal  sees,  though,  strange  to  say,  Jerusalem  did 
not  receive  a  corresponding  distinction  till  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon  in  451.  It  is  easy  to  see  how,  while  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  of  the  East  was  divided  among 
four,  Rome,  having  undivided  power,  and,  moreover, 
being  at  a  distance  from  the  rival  influences  of  secular 
authority,  soon  became,  not  only  a  more  important  patri- 
archate than  any  other,  but  even  than  the  four  distributed 

101 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

authorities  combined.  The  Greek  Church,  on  the  other 
hand,  suffered  continual  tyranny  and  martyrdom  under 
the  oppression  of  successive  conquerors —  Arabs,  Mon- 
gols, Turks  ;  and  perhaps  one  may  venture  to  doubt 
whether,  under  the  combined  pressure  of  schism  and  perse- 
cution, she  might  not  have  disintegrated  altogether,  had 
it  not  been  for,  perhaps,  the  mightiest  conquest  of  the 
Christian  Church,  her  conversion  of  Russia,  King  and 
people,  Church  and  State,  wholly  and  bodily,  in  the  year 
980. 

From  the  first,  Constantinople,  "  the  New  Rome,"  was 
a  Christian  city,  possessed  of  the  finest  position  in  the 
world,  the  outpost,  as  it  were,  between  Europe  and  Asia  ; 
from  the  eighth  to  the  tenth  century  the  strongest  military 
power  in  Europe,  holding  her  own  against  Persians  and 
Goths,  Saracens  and  Bulgarians,  Seljouk  and  Ottoman 
Turks  ;  strong  under  a  long  succession  of  able  administrators, 
enriched  by  commerce  on  land  and  sea,  producing  art 
which  became  the  parent  of  the  wider  schools  of  Italy, 
maintaining,  as  few  nations  have  succeeded  in  maintain- 
ing, a  steady  legal  standard  of  coinage. 

In  380  Christianity  was  established  (under  Theodosius) 
as  the  state  religion,1  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  when,  in 
800,  Charlemagne  asserted  himself  as  the  head  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  it  was  "  not  by  professing  to  revive  the 
Empire  of  the  West  "  (extinguished  three  hundred  years 
before,  in  476),  "  but  by  getting  himself  recognized,  as, 
in  some  sense,  the  representative  of  the  eastern  Emperors."  2 
He  is  thus  spoken  of  in  the  annals  of  his  time  as  the  68th 
Emperor  in  order  from  Augustus,  the  67th  being  Con- 

1  The  Emperor,  from  the  time  of  Constantine,  had  been  supreme 
in  matters  religious  as  well  as  civil,  and  the  title  by  which  the  Em- 
peror styled  himself  X/H.O-TW   TTIO-TOS   /3ao-iAevs   TWV    Pto/xaitov  is  equi- 
valent to  the  English  "  Defender  of  the  Faith." 

2  Rev.  H.  F.  Tozer,  The  Church  and  the  Christian  Empire  Epochs 
of  Church  History.      Series  edited  by  Mandell  Creighton  (Bishop  of 
London),  1888. 

102 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

stantine  VI  (780-797),  and  was  crowned  by  Pope  Leo  III 
on  Christmas  Day,  799. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  1204,  after  the  fourth 
Crusade,  Jerusalem  became  for  fifty-seven  years  a  Latin 
kingdom,  and  that  Latin  patriarchs,  with  Latin  clergy, 
succeeded  to  the  Greek  patriarchs,  and  Greek  clergy,  who 
for  seven  centuries  and  a  half  (451-1204)  had  held  the 
Patriarchal  See. 

The  Franciscan  Order  of  Friars  Minor  arrived  in  Jerusalem 
in  1219,  but  the  Latin  Patriarchate  was  not  revived  till  1847. 
During  the  interval,  however,  the  Franciscans,  often  at 
noble  cost  of  life  and  liberty,  succeeded  in  maintaining,  on 
behalf  of  Western  Christendom,  their  influence  and  position 
as  Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places. 

The  Eastern  Empire  ended  in  1453,  having  existed  for 
eleven  centuries.  The  last  sign  of  life  was  an  attempt  at 
reconciliation  with  the  Western  Church,  though  it  is  perhaps 
not  quite  easy  to  believe  that  the  attempt,  at  that  par- 
ticular period  of  her  conscious  decline,  can  have  been  wholly 
disinterested.  Four  points,  then  as  now,  made  approxima- 
tion impossible.  Although  some  concession  to  the  Greeks 
was  offered  it  was  not  accepted,  as  was  the  case  in  the  more 
recent  amalgamation  of  Abyssinians,  Armenians,  Copts 
and  Syrians,  with  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  points  in 
dispute  can  only  be  briefly  indicated  as  relating  to  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Holy  Spirit  (i.e.  the  use  of  the  filioque  clause 
in  the  Creed),  the  use,  for  sacramental  purposes,  of  un- 
fermented  bread,  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope. 

The  theory  of  a  national  Church,  definitely  established  at 
the  fifth  General  Council  of  Justinian,  553,  has  never  been 
wholly  lost  sight  of.  It  was  to  be  controlled  by  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Emperor,  and  to  yield  to  Rome  the  respect 
due  from  the  younger  to  the  elder,  a  respect  now  entirely 
a  thing  of  the  past.  This  idea  of  nationality  has  become 
stereotyped  in  the  East,  and  is  the  idea  politically  recognized. 

103 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Thus,  for  example,  the  United  Armenians  are  regarded  as 
the  Armenian  Catholic  nation.  Anything  like  the  niter- 
national  subjection  to  the  Pope,  so  essential  a  feature  of  the 
Latin  Church,  is  entirely  lacking.1 

The  Eastern  Church  is  governed  by  four  patriarchs  : 
1.  Of  Constantinople,  who  has  jurisdiction  over  at  least 
7,500,000  mainly  in  Turkey  in  Europe,  but  also  in  Asia, 
north  of  the  territory  of  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  2.  Of 
Alexandria,  who  has  supervision  over  Egypt,  where,  how- 
ever, the  orthodox  amount  only  to  about  6,000,  as  the 
religion  of  the  country  is  that  of  the  Copts.  3.  Of  Antioch, 
who  governs  about  80,000  in  Cilicia,  Syria  and  Mesopo- 
tamia. 4.  Of  Jerusalem,  who  controls  some  50,000  in 
Palestine. 

In  communion  with  these  patriarchs,  but  not  subject  to 
them,  are  the  Churches  of  Greece,  Cyprus,  Russia,  Servia 
and  Roumania,  Montenegro  and  the  three  independent 
national  Churches  in  Austro-Hungary.2 

A  charge  very  commonly  brought  against  the  Orthodox 
Church,  especially  in  relation  to  the  Greek  as  distinguished 
from  the  Russian  branch,  is  that  of  the  ignorance  of  their 
clergy.  Their  deficiencies  are  now  clearly  recognized,  the 
more  since  the  importation  of  educational  advantages  into 
Syria  by  the  Russians.  The  Sy nodical  letter  relating  to 
the  establishment  of  the  new  Greek  Seminary  in  Jerusalem 
enumerates,  among  other  objects,  "  That  our  Church  be  no 
longer  deprived  of  educated  ministers,  that  the  peculiar 

1  In  view  of  the  formerly    anomalous    position  of  the  Anglican 
Church  in  Jerusalem,  one  can  hardly  feel  surprised  that  the  term 
"  Protestant  "  is  the  official,  indiscriminate  designation  of  all  in  the 
kingdom  of  Turkey  who  are  not  Latins,  Greeks,  or  Moslems,  without 
reference  to  national  or  religious  distinction,  except  in  the  case  of 
the  converted  Jew,  who  is  always  distinguished  as  a  "  Hebrew  Chris- 
tian."    The  story  is  told  of  a  dragoman  who  supposed  himself  to  be 
an  American  because  he  had  been  baptized  by  the  American   Pres- 
byterians in  Beirut. 

2  Compare  the  relation  of  the  church  of  England   with  the  epis- 
copal church  of  America. 

104 


THE    GREEKS  IN   JERUSALEM 

people  entrusted  to  us  may  not  remain  destitute  of  adequate 
and  properly  equipped  Guides,  that  lack  of  learning  and  of 
knowledge  may  not  prevail  among  us,  that  the  thirst  for  the 
Divine  Word— the  worst  of  evils — may  not  afflict  the  sacred 
flock,  but  that  it  may  be  seasoned  with  salt,  itself  good  and 
well-seasoned." 

The  educational  difficulties  do  not  exist  in  Jerusalem  only. 
Except  in  Athens,  the  Greek  Church  has  no  university  ; 
little  indeed  beyond  elementary  schools,  for  the  theological 
colleges  are  but  few  in  number,  and  their  time  is,  necessarily, 
from  lack  of  other  provision  for  general  education,  taken 
up  with  secular  studies.  It  seems  that  only  four  such 
colleges  are  extant  :  at  Constantinople,  Athens,  Tripolitza 
(in  the  Peloponnesus)  and  at  the  Monastery  of  the  Holy 
Cross  at  Jerusalem,1  founded  in  1858,  but,  even  since  that 
time,  thrice  closed.  It  was  re-opened  last  in  1893,  and  has 
now,  it  is  said,  fifty  students,  the  full  number  which  it  is 
possible  to  provide  for. 

It  is  maintained  by  the  Greek  Community  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  is  under  the  superintendence  of  their  Patriarch, 
and  the  staff  is  preferably,  but  not  entirely,  ecclesiastical. 
There  are  a  library  (where  we  noted  the  complete  works  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott),  a  museum  and  a  laboratory ;  and  a  course 
of  musical  instruction  is  included  in  the  curriculum  of  the 
college.  Students  are  admitted  between  the  ages  of  seventeen 
and  twenty-two,  and  must  pass  a  preliminary  examination  in 
Greek,  arithmetic,  political  geography,  elementary  catechism, 
and  sacred  history,  and  be  able  to  read  in  Arabic.  They  are 
educated  and  boarded,  and,  if  needful,  clothed,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Monastery,  but  seventy-five  Turkish  pounds 
must  be  deposited  by  some  responsible  person  as  guarantee 

1  This  fine  old  convent,  possibly  founded  by  St.  Helena,  was  for 
many  centuries  the  property  of  the  Georgians,  though  for  a  time, 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  in  the  hands  of  the  Moslems.  It  was 
last  restored  in  1643.  It  is,  among  the  Greeks,  the  traditional  site 
of  the  tree  of  which  our  Lord's  Cross  was  formed. 

105 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

that  they  will  fulfil  all  requisite  conditions,  proceed  to  take 
orders,  and  be  obedient  to  the  Patriarch  in  all  things.  The 
course  covers  seven  years,  of  which  the  last  two  are  purely 
theological ;  they  are  examined  twice  a  year,  and,  should 
they  fail  in  the  final  examination  for  a  theological  diploma, 
may  be  once  only  "  referred  to  their  studies,"  after  which, 
on  failing  a  second  time,  they  forfeit  their  deposit  and  leave. 
One  constantly  meets  them  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
convent,  dressed  in  black  cassocks,  and  the  peculiar  brimless 
hat  of  the  Greek  clergy. 

There  are,  in  Jerusalem,  large  elementary  schools  both 
for  boys  and  girls,  a  hospital  with  excellent  buildings  and 
well-arranged  wards,  orderly  and  well  cared  for  by  nurses 
who  seemed  to  be  mainly  Russian,  and  much  admirable 
organization  for  ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  poor. 
There  are  weekly  doles  of  bread,  with  the  addition,  on 
festivals,  of  wine — the  simple  wholesome  wine  of  the  country. 
During  a  recent  alarm  of  cholera,  when  the  surrounding 
district  was  in  quarantine  and  trains  and  road  traffic  sus- 
pended, and  when,  in  consequence,  food  and  other  neces- 
saries rose  in  price,  arrangements  were  made  by  the  Greeks 
to  supply  the  poor  on  reasonable  terms.  There  is  at  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  a  small  but  well  arranged 
museum  testifying  to  the  recent  stimulus  of  interest  in  local 
archaeology.  There  are  many  convents — sixteen  at  least, 
of  which  most  are  within  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  of  which 
two  at  least  are  for  women,  though  I  am  bound  to  say  that 
we  have  not  been  able  to  discover  that  the  latter  serve  any 
useful  purpose.  The  nuns  showed  us  their  churches,  but 
when  asked  what  they  did,  replied  that  they  cooked  their 
food  and  cleaned  the  house,  and  seemed  surprised  that  any- 
thing further  should  be  expected  of  them.  They  wore  no 
habit. 

Philanthropy  has  always  been  an  essential  part  of  the 
religion  of  the  Eastern  Church.  St.  Basil  (368)  founded 
almshouses  and  hospitals,  Justinian  (528)  a  penitentiary, 

106 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

the  Emperor  Isaac  Angelus  (1185)  a  hospital  and  hospice 
for  a  hundred  travellers  free  of  charge,  and  the  Church 
devoted  herself  at  an  early  period  to  the  consideration  of 
the  slavery  problem. 

Among  all  the  exaggerations  of  travellers'  tales,  is  there 
any  subject  which  has  been  treated  more  unfairly  than  that 
of  the  Greek  fire  ?  The  scene  has  been  too  often  described, 
but  the  quotation  of  a  few  facts  may  interest  the  reader. 
The  ceremony  is  very  ancient,  and  though  no  record 
exists  of  its  institution  it  is  thought  to  have  taken  its  rise 
at  the  time  when  much  encouragement  was  given  to  pil- 
grims, under  the  reign  of  Charlemagne.  It  was  first  de- 
scribed by  a  traveller,  Bernardus  the  Monk,  in  867.  "  Within 
this  city,  besides  others,  there  are  four  principal  churches, 
connected  with  each  other  by  walls — one  to  the  East,  which 
contains  the  Mount  of  Calvary,  and  the  place  in  which  the 
Cross  of  our  Lord  was  found,  and  is  called  the  Basilica  of 
Constantino  ;  another  to  the  South  ;  a  third  to  the  West,  in 
the  middle  of  which  is  the  Sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  having 
nine  columns  in  its  circuit,  between  which  are  walls  made 
of  the  most  excellent  stones,  of  which  nine  columns,  four  are 
in  front  of  the  monument  itself,  which  with  their  walls 
include  the  stone  placed  before  the  Sepulchre,  which  the 
angel  rolled  away,  and  on  which  he  sat  after  our  Lord's 
resurrection.  .  .  .  On  Holy  Saturday,  which  is  the  Eve  of 
Easter,  the  Office  is  begun  in  the  morning  in  this  Church, 
and  after  it  is  ended  the  Kyrie  Eleison  is  chanted,  until  an 
angel  comes  and  lights  the  lamps  which  hang  over  the  afore- 
said Sepulchre  ;  of  which  the  patriarch  gives  their  shares 
to  the  Bishops  and  to  the  rest  of  the  people,  that  each  may 
illuminate  his  own  house." 

A  Moslem  historian,  Masudi,  wrote  in  943 :  "  The  Christians 
assemble  for  this  festival  from  out  all  lands.  For  on  it  the 
fire  from  heaven  doth  descend  among  them,  and  they  kindle 
therefrom  the  candles.  The  Moslems  also  are  wont  to 
assemble  in  great  crowds  to  see  the  sight  of  the  festival. 

107 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

The  Christians  hold  many  legends  thereanent,  but  the  fire 
is  produced  by  a  clever  artifice,  which  is  kept  a  great  secret." 

As  early  as  the  eleventh  century  detractors  arose,  who 
denounced  the  Miracle  of  the  Fire  as  an  imposture  to  the 
Caliph  Hakem,  and  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians,  the 
destruction  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  1010,  ultimately  the 
Crusades,  were  probably  the  consequence  ;  though  the 
facts  are  as  seldom  remembered  as  cause  and  effect,  as  is 
the  reconstruction  of  the  dome  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  remembered  as  the  occasion,  if  not  the  cause,  of 
the  Crimean  war.  The  Christian  writer,  Abelfaragius,  tells 
us  that  "  The  author  of  this  persecution  was  some  enemy 
of  the  Christians,  who  told  Hakem  that  when  the  Christians 
assembled  in  their  Temple  at  Jerusalem  to  celebrate  Easter, 
the  chaplains  of  the  Church,  making  use  of  a  pious  fraud, 
greased  the  chain  of  iron  that  held  the  lamp  over  the  Tomb 
with  oil  of  balsam  ;  and  that  when  the  Arab  officer  had 
sealed  up  the  door  which  led  to  the  Tomb,  they  applied  a 
match,  through  the  roof,  to  the  other  extremity  of  the 
chain,  and  the  fire  descended  immediately  to  the  wick  of  the 
lamp  and  lighted  it.  Then  the  worshippers  burst  into  tears, 
and  cried  out  Kyrie  Eleison,  supposing  it  was  fire  which  fell 
from  heaven  upon  the  Tomb  ;  and  they  were  thus  strength- 
ened in  their  faith." 

Undoubtedly  large  numbers  of  ignorant  peasants,  per- 
haps even  others  who  have  less  excuse,  are,  to  this  day.1 

1  It  may  be  worth  while  to  compare  with  this  superstition  of  the 
Russian  and  Oriental  pilgrims,  ignorant  peasantry  for  the  most  part, 
the  following  paragraph,  which  I  quote  from  Finn's  Stirring  Times, 
ii.  462,  and  which  he  borrows  from  Lambarde's  Topographical 
Dictionary  (no  reference  given). 

"  I  myself,  being  a  child,  once  was  in  Paul's  Church  at  London  at 
a  feast  at  Whitsontide,  wheare  the  comyng  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
set  forth  by  a  white  pigeon  that  was  let  to  fly  out  of  a  hole  that  is  yet 
to  be  seen  in  the  midst  of  the  roof  of  the  great  ile,  and  by  a  long 
censer,  which  descending  out  to  the  same  place  almost  to  the  very 
ground,  was  swinged  up  and  down  at  such  a  length  that  it  reached 
at  one  swepe  almost  to  the  west  gate  of  the  church,  and  with  the 

108 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

similarly  "strengthened  in  their  faith,"  but  there  is  now  abso- 
lutely no  dramatic  machinery  whatever.  The  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem,  accompanied  by  a  Greek  and  Armenian  ecclesi- 
astic, walks  into  the  tomb,  leaving  the  door  open.  Like  his 
predecessor,  who  over  fifty  years  before  the  Norman  Con- 
quest is  mysteriously  alleged  to  have  "  applied  a  match," 
the  Patriarch,  by  some  means,  ignites  whole  bundles  of 
candles,  which  are  handed,  through  the  window,  to  the  eager 
crowd  without ;  to  the  Greeks  on  the  north  side,  to  the 
Armenians  on  the  south  ;  lastly  to  the  Coptic  and  Syrian 
ecclesiastics  who  are  waiting  in  the  doorway  outside.  In  a 
moment,  as  it  seems,  the  waiting  thousands,  within  and 
without,  have  lighted  candles  and  torches  at  the  sacred 
flame  ;  and  not  the  Church  only,  but  the  courtyard  is  so 
ablaze  with  lights,  that  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
within,  at  least,  the  daylight  is  extinguished.  Mounted 
messengers  are  already  on  their  way  to  Bethlehem  and  to  the 
coast,  each  carrying  the  sacred  flame  carefully  shielded  in 
a  lantern,  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  the  orderly,  courteous  and 
well  disciplined  Turkish  police  have  cleared  the  whole  scene, 
and  the  crowd  has  dispersed  into  the  streets. 

It  is  during  the  long  hours  of  waiting  that  the  disorder  is 
alleged  to  occur.  Such  may  have  been  the  case  in  former 
days,  but  now  a  cordon  of  police  surround  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
and  neither  entrance  nor  movement  can  be  effected,  except 
at  certain  intervals,  and  under  strict  organization.  The 
police  have  been  at  their  posts  so  long  1  that  some  are  almost 
fainting,  and  not  only  water,  but  even  smelling-salts  are 
handed  round  at  the  command  of  the  observant  officers, 
whose  courtesy,  dignity,  one  had  almost  said  reverence,  in 

other  to  the  queer  stairs  of  the  same,  breathing  out  over  the  whole 
church  and  companie  a  most  pleasant  perfume  of  such  swete  thyngs 
as  burned  therein." 

1  Moreover,  in  1902,  Easter  happened  to  fall  within  the  Fast  of 
Ramadan,  so  that  matters  for  the  Moslem  police  were  complicated 
by  exhaustion. 

109 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

presence  of  a  scene  so  utterly  contrary  to  all  their  prejudices, 
is  beyond  all  praise.  We  could  not  but  remark  that  we  had 
often  seen  police,  vergers,  and  beadles  in  churches  and 
cathedrals  at  home  and  on  the  continent,  who  might  well 
profit  by  their  example.  One  must  take  into  consideration 
the  very  small  theatre  of  a  scene  so  immense,  the  presence 
of  a  vast  concourse  of  strangers,  many  of  whom  are  un- 
sympathetic, others  even  bent  on  creating  disturbance ; 
the  Latin  gallery  crowded  with  those  who,  while  behaving 
with  all  the  respect  due  to  the  place  in  which  they  are 
assembled,  can  hardly  be  expected  to  entertain  much  cordial 
feeling  towards  those  so  unhappily  their  rivals  in  the 
possession  of  the  Holy  Places  ;  the  Armenians,  Copts, 
Syrians,  Abyssinians,  all  anxious  to  take  part  in  an  occasion 
upon  which  their  legal  status  is,  to  say  the  least,  doubtful1; 
the  crowd  of  Russian  pilgrims,  hundreds  of  whom  have  been 
waiting  in  the  church  for  at  least  twenty-four  hours,  and  many 
of  whom  have  been  travelling,  mainly  on  foot,  for  months 
on  purpose  to  be  present;  the  tourist  curiosity-mongers, 
craning  necks  and  raising  opera-glasses,  from  various  points 
of  vantage  provided  by  their  respective  Consuls ;  and,  above 
all,  the  Greeks  themselves,  conscious,  undoubtedly,  of 
criticism,  of  being  on  the  defensive,  aggressive  perhaps, 
as  it  is  only  human  on  such  occasions  to  be. 

It  is  fair,  however,  to  acknowledge  that  peace  and  order 
are  rather  to  the  eye  than  to  the  ear.  It  seems  an  impos- 
sibility to  the  Arab  to  be  silent.  Work  and  amusement 
alike  are  accompanied  by  song.  From  morning  till  night 
they  shout,  sing,  scream,  crack  their  whips  ;  the  very  dogs, 
donkeys,  camels  of  Syria  make  more  noise  than  those  of  any 
other  place  within  civilized  ken,  and  here,  with  all  the 
stimulus  of  expectation,  of  the  presence  of  crowds,  of  excite- 

1  At  what  precise  period  the  Latins  ceased  to  take  part  in  the 
ceremony  is  not  known.  However,  as  early  as  1697,  Maundrell 
writes :  "  The  Latins  take  a  great  deal  of  pains  to  expose  this 
ceremony  as  a  most  shameful  imposture  and  a  scandal  to  the 
Christian  religion." 

110 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

ment,  conceivably  even  of  religious  devotion,  it  is  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  will  keep  silence.  In 
endless  succession,  one  or  another  starts  a  song  which  the 
crowd  takes  up,  for  the  most  part  relevant,  and  even  reli- 
gious in  character.  A  favourite  ejaculation,  recited  anti- 
phonally,  is — 

"  Our  candles  are  in  our  hands — And  towards  the  Tomb  we 
are  praying."  Or  again,  twenty,  fifty  times  without  stopping, 
they  cry — 

"  Hatha  Kuber  Said  na — Sabt  en  nar  wa  aed  na — Wa 
hatha  Kuber  Said  na" 

"  This  is  the  Tomb  of  our  Lord — The  seventh  day  is  the 
fire  and  our  feast — And  this  is  the  Tomb  of  our  Lord." 

Why  they  are  specially  anxious  to  insult  the  Jews,  who 
are  certainly  not  present,  as  no  Jew  dare  show  himself  even 
in  the  court  of  the  church,  it  would  be  hard  to  say,  but 
another  favourite  song  runs  thus — 

"  O  Jews  !  O  Jews  ! 
Your  feast  is  the  feast  of  devils, 
Our  feast  is  the  feast  of  Christ, 
Christ  who  has  redeemed  us, 
And  with  His  blood  has  bought  us. 
We  to-day  are  happy 
And  you  are  sorrowful. 

"  O,  the  Jews  !  the  Jews  !  O,  the  Infidels  ! 
Your  feast  is  the  feast  of  the  dead, 
And  our  feast  is  the  feast  of  Christ  ! " 

Now  and  then,  when  the  cordon  is  opened  to  admit  of 
newcomers,  there  are  cries  of  "  God  save  the  Sultan  !  "  or 
in  a  momentary  pause,  of— 

"  The  resurrection  of  Christ  has  redeemed  us  from  our 
sins  !  " 

The  crowd  is  so  dense  in  the  small  space  that  there  is  not 
the  slightest  difficulty  in  hoisting  the  leaders  on  to  the 
shoulders  of  the  multitude,  nor  of  their  moving  about  freely 
when  once  up.  We  counted  seven  at  one  time  thus 

111 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

mounted,  a  phenomenon  one  has  read  of,  and  hitherto 
supposed  to  be  among  the  figures  of  speech  peculiar  to 
newspaper  reports. 

The  author  of  Days  in  Galilee  (ed.  1900,  p.  272)  writes 
that  the  Acting  Russian  Consul  of  the  period  said  to  him, 
"  I  was  with  the  Patriarch 1  on  one  occasion  when  there  were 
present  several  bishops  and  some  other  gentlemen.  The 
Patriarch  said  on  that  occasion,  '  The  Church  does  not 
claim  to  work  a  miracle, — it  is  but  an  emblem  of  the  spread 
of  the  Evangel  through  the  world.'  ' 

The  Easter  panic  of  1834,  described  in  Curzon's  Monas- 
teries of  the  Levant  could  hardly  recur  in  these  days,  as  was 
well  demonstrated  when,  in  1895,  the  Greek  crowd  made  an 
attempt  to  prevent  the  entry  of  the  Armenian  Patriarch 
into  the  Chapel  of  the  Angels — the  ante-chamber  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre— to  which,  as  usual,  he  sought  to  accompany 
the  Greek  Patriarch.  The  bugle  at  once  sounded,  the  soldiers 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  the  disorder  was  promptly  quelled, 
though  a  few  persons  were  injured  from  the  extreme  pressure 
which  naturally  follows  the  movement  of  a  crowd  within  so 
small  an  area. 

The  orthodox  procession  round  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is 
followed  by  that,  even  more  ornate  as  to  vestments,  banners, 
and  jewels,  of  the  Armenians,  with  whom  are  grouped  the 
Copts,  Syrians  and  Abyssinians,  who  have  no  legal  status  in 
Jerusalem  and  no  representatives  at  the  Porte. 

The  Armenians,  however,  who  have  long  shown  a  tolerant 
spirit  towards  all  anti-Chalcedonians  or  anti-Melchites,  take 
charge  of  their  political  affairs,  for  since  1830  the  Porte  has 
recognized  but  two  oriental  Patriarchs,  the  Armenian  and 
the  Greek. 

The  author  of  Christian  Researches  in  the  Mediterranean 
describes  the  ceremony  of  the  Greek  Fire  in  the  year  1820. 
He  mentions,  as  a  fact,  that  the  sum  of  16s.  8d.  was  paid  by 

1  Probably  Gerasimos.  This  learned  Greek,  universally  respected , 
died  in  February,  1897. 

112 


THE    GREEKS    IN   JERUSALEM 

every  person  for  admission,  but  that  the  crowd  was,  not- 
withstanding, enormous.  He  naively  concludes,  "  What  I 
have  written  "  (i.e.  as  to  various  ceremonials,  mainly  Latin) 
"  will  suffice  to  show  you  what  takes  place  annually  round  the 
Tomb  of  Christ.  May  we  not  hope  that  the  exertions  of  the 
Bible  Society  in  the  diffusion  of  the  Scripture,  which  the 
Pilgrims  will  be  enabled  in  future  to  purchase  at  the  very 
gates  of  the  Sepulchre  and  carry  home  to  then*  families  and 
friends,  will  tend  progressively  to  inspire  a  purer  and  more- 
exalted  spirit  ?  " 

The  spirit  of  devotion,  especially  of  the  Latin  and  Russian 
pilgrims  of  the  present  time,  strikes  one  as  singularly  "  pure 
and  exalted  "  as  compared  with  that  of  the  English  tourists, 
although  the  Bible  Society  has  not  yet  been  permitted  to 
sell  books  to  them  in  the  Court  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
Pilgrims  are  not,  however,  entirely  deprived  of  incentive  to 
the  study  of  Scripture.  The  very  large  college  of  the 
Dominicans  exists  in  Jerusalem  solely  for  the  study  of  the 
Bible  in  its  natural  surroundings  ;  the  Brothers  of  St.  Anne 
have  a  Biblical  museum,  designed  to  illustrate  every  article 
and  every  custom  mentioned  in  the  New  and  Old  Testaments, 
and  in  the  handbook  issued  to  the  Latin  pilgrims  of  Jerusalem 
by  the  Assumptionists,  who  annually  organize  and  receive 
within  their  walls  the  largest  caravans  which  have  ever 
visited  Jerusalem,  we  find  the  following  passage : 

"  Notre  livre,  c'est  la  Bible,  PAncien  et  le  Nouveau  Testa- 
ment. Etudions-le  avec  amour.  La  vue  des  Lieux  Saints 
nous  en  donnera  1' intelligence.  .  .  .  Lisons  notre  Nouveau 
Testament  et  suivons,  pas  a  pas,  les  traces  misericordieuses 
du  Sauveur  Jesus."  Moreover,  both  in  this  more  popular 
guide-book,  as  well  as  in  the  more  recondite  Guide  Lievin 
issued  by  the  Franciscans,  the  sacred  story  is  given 
in  full,  in  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  of  every  site  connected 
with  the  history  of  our  Lord,  an  incitement  to  reverence 
and  meditation  which  has  not  been  imitated  in  any  English 
handbook,  so  far  as  I  am  aware. 

113  I 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

It  is  interesting,  moreover,  to  find  that  even  the  Bible 
Society  had  ultimately  to  accept  the  aid  of  the  Eatin  Church 
in  introducing  the  Scriptures  into  Palestine.  The  Rev. 
James  Connor,  also  travelling  for  the  Bible  Society,  writes 
(op.  cit.  p.  452)  :  "  All  that  I  have  seen  and  heard  during 
my  travels  in  Syria  has  led  me  to  the  firm  conviction  that 
no  edition  whatever  of  the  Arabic  Bible  which  differs  in  any 
respect  from  the  text  sanctioned  in  Rome  will  be  accepted 
in  these  countries.  ...  I  have  conversed  with  many  of  the 
Catholic  ecclesiastics  on  the  Bible  Society  and  its  labours  of 
Christian  charity,  and  never  have  I  heard  one  voice  lifted 
up  against  it ;  all  that  they  require  is  that  the  edition  be 
conformable  to  the  Authorized  Text."  The  Society  took  the 
hint  and  shortly  issued  a  reprint  of  the  Propaganda  edition. 


114 


HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS   IN  THE 
EASTERN  CHURCH 

VARIOUS  CHURCHES  IN  JERUSALEM — THE  ARMENIANS, 
SYRIANS,  ABYSSINIANS,  COPTS  —  POSSIBILITIES  OF 
ANGLICAN  RE-UNION  —  ATTEMPTS  ALREADY  MADE  — 
POINTS  OF  SYMPATHY — CHAPEL  OF  ABRAHAM — COMMON 
BELIEFS — CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCH — 
ITS  AUSTERITY,  IN  FASTS,  IN  ART,  IN  ARCHITECTURE — 
ST.  GEORGE 

HERESIES  upon  such  points  as  the  nature  and  will, 
Divine  and  Human,  of  our  Lord,  have  effected  the 
separation  from  the  Greek  Church  of  some  half-dozen 
bodies,  all  represented  in  Jerusalem,  namely,  the  Copts, 
Armenians,  Abyssinians,  and  Syrians,  further  complicated 
by  "  United  "  Copts,  Armenians,  Abyssinians,  Syrians,  and 
Orthodox  *  (under  these  circumstances  called  "  Melchites  "), 
that  is,  representatives  of  the  Orthodox  Greek,  and  of  the 
four  separated  Churches,  who  have  joined  themselves  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  some  cases  preserving  certain 
peculiarities  of  their  own,  such  as  administering  the  Sacra- 
ment in  both  kinds,  use  of  the  vernacular  language  for  mass, 
and  marriage  of  the  clergy  before  ordination. 

1  The  title  "  Orthodox,"  which,  like  that  of  "  Catholic,"  may  be 
felt  by  those  not  in  sympathy  to  be  somewhat  question-begging, 
serves  to  differentiate  about  one  hundred  millions  of  persons  who 
hold  fast  to  the  decrees  of  the  (Ecumenical  Councils,  to  which  may  be 
added  some  six  millions  more,  who  reject  them  in  one  or  more  parti- 
culars. 

115 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Of  these  bodies,  the  most  prosperous — in  Jerusalem,  at 
all  events — is  that  of  the  Armenians,  whose  very  fine  Church 
of  St.  James  is  quite  one  of  the  "  sights  "  of  the  Holy  City. 
The  Armenians  are  the  earliest  example  of  the  conversion 
of  the  entire  nation,  indeed  perhaps  the  oldest  native 
Church  in  existence,  converted  in  276  by  the  preaching 
of  St.  Gregory,  the  Illuminator.  They  are  said  to  be  rich, 
and  indeed  the  magnificence  of  the  decoration  of  their 
church  and  the  possession  of  some  really  fine  works  of  art, 
would  suggest,  what  is  rare  in  the  East,  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  property  for  a  considerable  period.  They 
have  the  reputation  of  being  shrewd  and  apt  in  business,1 
and  of  being  much  engaged  in  trade  throughout  Asia  and 
India,  which  may  account  for  the  presence,  in  their  churches, 
of  treasures  conceivably  Chinese  or  Japanese,  of  wonderful 
mellow  blue  tiles,  of  silk  carpets,  inlaid  work  of  tortoise- 
shell  and  mother  of  pearl,  and,  above  all,  a  collection  of 
magnificent  monstrances,  jewels,  lamps,  vestments,  mitres, 
and  altar  frontals,  some  of  which  might  well  be  the  pride 
of  any  art-museum  in  Europe.  One  altar  frontal  might 
probably  tell  a  curious  story,  could  such  things  speak.  Its 
obvious  design  is  that  of  a  "  sun  in  splendour,"  with  ac- 
companying corner  devices,  heavily  and  richly  embroidered 
in  gold  thread.  A  vague  perception  of  an  imperfectly 
disguised  background,  invited  closer  attention,  and  there 
we  discovered,  exquisitely  and  daintily  embroidered,  a 
beautiful  piece  of  seventeenth  century  French  needlework 
— a  Watteau  scene  of,  to  say  the  least,  worldly  tendency,  — 
unfinished — telling  its  own  pathetic  story  of  intentions 
frustrated,  perhaps  by  death,  or  possibly  by  change  of 
views  on  the  part  of  the  skilled  embroideress,  who,  it 
may  be,  had  turned  to  the  religious  life,  and  had  dedicated 
this,  the  labour  of  years,  to  the  service  of  God  and  of  the 
Church. 

1  Hence  the  saying  that  "  it  takes  two  Arabs  to  cheat  a  Jew,  two 
Jews  to  cheat  a  Greek  and  two  Greeks  to  cheat  an  Armenian." 

116 


HERESIES    IN    THE    EASTERN    CHURCH 

The  Armenians  are  said  to  be  religious  and  church-going, 
and  number,  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  some  4,000  souls. 
Their  own  Chronological  History  of  Jerusalem  is  the  received 
authority  upon  their  history  and  opinions.  The  conventual 
buildings  of  the  Armenians  are  perhaps  the  most  picturesque 
in  Jerusalem,  and,  including  two  churches,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Patriarch,  cover  a  large  part  of  the  plateau  of 
Mount  Zion.  Their  fine  old  garden,  which  contains  some 
stately  trees,  is  probably  the  remains  of  the  pleasaunce  of 
Herod's  Palace.  There  is  accommodation  for  3,000  persons, 
including  some  200  monks,  a  theological  seminary  for  thirty 
or  forty  students,  who  enter  at  the  age  of  sixteen  for  a  five 
years'  course  of  instruction,  and  who,  if  they  fail  in  reaching 
the  required  standard,  are  expected  to  enter  the  monastic 
life  for  thirty  years.  There  are  also  what  may  be  described 
as  secondary  or  high  schools  for  about  a  hundred  boys  and 
girls.  The  Armenians  excel  in  various  manual  arts,  and 
have,  attached  to  the  convents,  admirable  printing  and 
bookbinding  establishments.  They  have  a  valuable  library 
and  a  museum  of  antiquities.  They  possess  convents  not 
only  in  Jerusalem,  but  also  at  Bethlehem  and  Jaffa,  and 
share  in  common  rights  with  Latins  and  Greeks  at  various 
Holy  Places.  They  possess  two  chapels  within  the  precincts 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  those  of  St.  James  and  St.  Helena ; 
the  latter,  which  might  be  made  one  of  the  handsomest,  as 
it  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  sacred  pile,  they  unaccountably 
neglect,  and  it  is  scantily  decorated  with  strings  of  ostrich 
eggs,  specially  characteristic  of  the  Armenians,  although 
found  in  other  oriental  churches,  and  considered  a  symbol 
of  faith,  as  the  bird  is  said  to  hatch  them  by  her  steady  gaze. 

They  have  been  in  Jerusalem  from  the  earliest  days  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and  their  own  historians  record  the 
visit  of  a  queen  during  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  The  title 
of  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  dates  only  from  the  twelfth 
century,  but  there  are  many  remains  of  older  churches 
belonging  to  them,  and  it  is  said  that  at  one  time  they 

117 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

possessed  a  considerable  share  of  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
Their  convent  on  Mount  Zion  is  on  the  alleged  site  of  the 
house  of  Caiaphas,  and  they  possess  part  of  the  stone  said 
to  have  closed  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  of  which  part  only 
remains  at  the  tomb  of  our  Lord. 

It  is  said  that  the  Armenian  separation  rests  upon  no 
demonstrable  heresy,  but  upon  a  mere  misunderstanding 
consequent  upon  the  accident  that  the  See  was  not  repre- 
sented at  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  1  (in  451),  in  consequence 
of  a  fearful  persecution  raging  in  Armenia,  an  attempt  of 
the  Persians,  then  rulers  of  the  country,  to  enforce  the 
doctrines  of  Zoroaster.  These  unhappy  people,  destined 
in  all  ages,  it  would  seem,  to  religious  persecution,  had 
already  resisted  an  attempt  of  the  Emperor  Maximin  to 
enforce  Paganism  upon  them,  rather  more  than  a  century 
earlier.  One  Armenian  tradition  is  noteworthy  as  illus- 
trative of  their  conservatism  and  continuity.  They  are 
said  to  reckon  time  from  the  date  of  the  first  Armenian, 
who,  it  seems,  was  contemporaneous  with  Shem  ;  so  for 
the  date  of  1903  they  use  4391.  They  have  also  a  secondary 
method,  of  dating  from  the  year  551  A.D.,  which  in  the 
Lehrbuch  der  Chronologic  is  thus  explained.  In  the  year 
351  A.D.,  a  certain  Andreas  of  Byzantium  made  an  Easter 
calendar  for  200  years,  which,  at  the  end  of  that  period, 
was  found  to  be  incorrect,  and  it  was  adjusted  in  the  year 
551,  from  which  year  they  have  since  calculated. 

The  Syrian  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the 
independent  Churches.  Like  the  Armenians  they  separated 

1  It  is  an  interesting  point  that  Etchmiadzen,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Ararat  (their  great  ecclesiastical  centre,  the  Patriarch  being 
superior  to  all  Bishops  and  Patriarclis)  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Russia, 
a  fact  which  may  conceivably  lead  to  re-union. 

In  Newman's  edition  of  Palmer's  Visit  to  the  Russian  Church  (p.  166) 
it  is  stated  that  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  himself,  had  said 
the  Armenians  might  safely  be  reunited  to  the  Orthodox  Church, 
only  that  "  the  Greeks  would  cry  out  that  we  had  made  union  with 
the  heretics." 

118 


HERESIES    IN   THE    EASTERN   CHURCH 

after  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  their  heresy  being  as  to  the 
Divine  and  Human  nature  of  our  Lord  ;  but  though  con- 
demned as  Monophysites,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
separately  incorporated  until  about  a  century  later,  when 
they  received  the  nickname,  which  still  clings  to  them,  of 
"  Jacobites,"  from  Jacob  "  Baradai  "  (the  man  of  rags,  so 
called  from  the  humility  of  his  dress),  Bishop  of  Edessa, 
who  became  their  leader,  and  at  his  death,  in  578,  left 
a  large  community  amounting,  it  is  alleged,  probably  with 
exaggeration,  to  80,000,  now  represented  in  Jerusalem  by 
a  single  monastery  and  church,  and  perhaps  some  fifteen 
families.  One  may  perhaps  venture  to  think  of  them  as 
the  lineal  representatives  of  those  who  listened  to  the  teach- 
ing of  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles,  as  the  oldest  Christian 
Church  in  the  world,  that  which  at  Antioch  was  "  first  called 
Christian."  The  language  of  their  ritual  is  Syriac,  still  also 
in  use  among  the  Maronities  of  the  Lebanon,  a  language  of 
Syria  before  the  introduction  of  Arabic,  and  probably  that 
used  by  our  Lord  Himself.  Its  alphabet  is  still  often 
employed  even  where  the  words  themselves  are  Arabic,  and 
was  a  mark  of  distinction  between  Syria  and  the  more 
Judaized  Palestine  as  far  back  as  nearly  a  thousand  years 
before  Christ.  Their  Church,  by  a  well  authenticated 
tradition,  is  said  to  be  on  the  site  of  the  house  of  John  Mark, 
and  contains  a  painting  said  to  be  by  St.  Luke.1 

1  The  late  Dr.  Schick,  facile  princeps  upon  questions  of  Jerusalem 
topography  and  archaeology,  thus  describes  the  Church  of  St.  Mark. 
"  This  is  an  old  building  somewhat  variously  restored.  The  gate 
leading  from  the  street  first  into  the  convent  and  about  a  dozen 
paces  further  to  the  church,  has  some  remarkable  decorations.  It 
is  said  to  be  the  gate  at  which  St.  Peter  knocked  .  .  .  The  font  is 
shown  as  a  very  old  relic,  even  as  coming  down  from  the  times  of  the 
Apostles.  Blackburn  says  of  this  Church,  '  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  ecclesiastical  building  of  the  Christians.'  Although 
this  assertion  cannot  be  proved,  still  it  is  probable  that  the  erection 
of  all  these  small  and  simply  formed  churches  at  Jerusalem,  falls  in 
the  early  Christian  time  before  Byzantine  art  became  flourishing." 
(Quarterly  Statement,  P.E.F,,  October  1895.)  This  group  of 

119 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

It  was  a  sensation  not  to  be  forgotten  to  pass  by  the  site 
of  the  Prison  of  St.  Peter,  where  the  present  wall  consists, 
in  part,  of  stones  probably  belonging  to  a  much  earlier 
building,  where  sections  of  columns  and  arches  have  been 
roughly  squared  to  take  their  place  among  more  modern 
material,  to  enter  by  a  door  at  least  representing  that  at 
which  St.  Peter  knocked  when  the  maidservant  took  him 
for  his  own  ghost,  and  to  drink  coffee  with  the  stately  Bishop 
and  his  chaplains  ;  to  be  privileged  to  handle  then-  beautifully 
decorated  works  bound  in  marvellous  silver,  chased  and 
repousse,  and  adorned  with  veritable  gems  of  the  illumina- 
tor's art,  caligraphy  of  incredible  delicacy  and  minuteness, 
and  bold  representations  of  Gospel  scenes.  They  celebrate 
mass,  not  only  in  their  own  church,  but  also  at  altars  in  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  and  at  the  Church  of  the  Tomb  of  our  Lady. 
They  entertain  a  few  pilgrims  yearly,  and  in  spite  of  the 
attenuated  number  of  the  faithful,  live  in  modest  dignity, 
mainly  upon  the  proceeds  of  a  small  property  near  the 
Jaffa  Gate.  Their  habits  are  simple  and  ascetic,  they  have 
five  lengthened  fasts  during  the  year,  when  both  clergy  and 
laity  abstain  not  only  from  flesh  and  eggs,  but  even  from 
wine,  oil,  and  fish.  Their  Patriarch  always  takes  the  name 
of  Ignatius  in  memory  of  the  disciple  of  St.  John  thrown  to 
the  lions  in  A.D.  115,  who  was  the  first  Bishop  of  Antioch, 
and  from  time  to  time  they  have  produced  distinguished 
scholars,  Gregory  Abelpharagius  (d.  A.D.  1286)  poet,  physi- 
cian, philosopher,  historian,  and  divine,  being  the  one  best 
known  to  the  western  world. 

Although,  in  Jerusalem,  they  have  a  new  and  handsome 
church  outside  the  walls,  as  well  as  an  ancient  one  within 
the  precincts  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  Abyssinians  belong 

churches  includes  seven  of  unquestioned  interest :  the  Church  of 
the  Olive  Tree  and  the  Prison  of  Christ,  both  in  the  Armenian 
Convent ;  the  Churches  of  St.  Thomas,  St.  James,  the  Three  Marys, 
St.  Mark,  and  Mar  Jirius  (Saint  George).  They  are  probably  identical 
with  "  the  seven  synagogues  "  mentioned  by  the  Bordeaux  pilgrim 
in  the  fourteenth  century. 

120 


HERESIES    IN   THE    EASTERN   CHURCH 

to  one  of  those  races,  whose  destiny  seems  to  be  that  of 
submission  to  others.  One  is  not,  therefore,  surprised  that 
they  are  dependent  upon  the  Coptic  Patriarch  for  the  choice 
of  their  nominal  bishop,  who,  however  (notwithstanding 
statements  to  the  contrary)  is  never  called  Caiholicus, 
who  has  no  power  of  ordaining  Metropolitans  or 
Bishops,  who  is  not  allowed  to  be  of  their  own  race, 
and  who,  as  a  rule,  is  ignorant  of  their  language, 
although  it  is,  in  great  degree,  the  language  of  their  ritual. 
They  have  begged  the  Armenian  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  to 
send  them  a  bishop,  but  he  has  not  yet  felt  justified  in 
interference.  They  have  a  convent,  a  curious  kraal-like 
settlement,  in  the  court  which  surrounds  the  dome  of  the 
Armenian  Chapel  of  St.  Helena  (in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre).  On  the  west  side  are  some  half-ruined  houses 
of  two  stories  high  ;  on  the  south  and  east  are  groups 
of  small  buildings  little  more  than  huts,  each  containing 
a  single  family,  those  in  Orders,  unless  monks,  being 
allowed  to  marry.  Their  church  is  a  low,  projecting  building, 
which  the  priest  is  courteously  ready  to  show.  Their 
ecclesiastical  language  is  Ethiopic,  they  are  tall,  and  of  good 
carriage,  but  almost  painfully  fleshless,  encumbered  with 
clothing  about  the  neck  and  shoulders,  bare,  men  and 
women  alike,  about  the  legs.  Their  manner  is  dignified 
and  reposeful,  although  one  learns,  on  excellent  authority,1 
that  "  They  remain  an  almost  unique  specimen  of  a  semi- 
barbarous  Christian  people.  Their  worship  is  strangely 
mixed  with  Jewish  customs  ;  dancing  forms  part  of  their 
ritual,  as  it  did  among  the  Jews ;  the  Sabbath  is  still 
observed  as  well  as  the  Lord's  Day  ;  circumcision  is  prac- 
tised." "  They  are,"  says  Dean  Stanley,  "  the  only  true 
Sabbatarians  of  Christendom,  observing  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
as  well  as  the  Christian  Sunday." 

Like  the  Jews,  they  eat  the  flesh  of  such  animals  only  a» 
chew  the  cud  and  have  cloven  feet. 

1  Tozer,  op.  cit.  p.  83, 
121 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

"  The  Abyssinian  Church,"  writes  Rev.  A.  H.  Hore  (Op. 
(cit.,  p.  270),  "  presents  the  spectacle  of  the  benign  influence 
of  the  Gospel  struggling  with  the  cruel  surroundings  of 
a  savage  life  ;  a  strange  mixture  ...  of  devotion,  super- 
stition, and  barbarism,  combined  with  Christianity." 

Their  earliest  teaching  dates  probably  from  the  year  316, 
when  they  were  Christianized  by  Frumentius  of  Tyre,  who 
was  wrecked  upon  their  coast,  and  who  was  afterwards 
consecrated  first  Bishop  of  Alexandria  ;  though  they  them- 
selves give  a  different  account  of  their  history,  which  is 
interesting,  as  in  part  explaining  the  story  of  their  mys- 
terious relations  with  Judaism.  Abyssinia,  they  say,  is 
the  same  as  Sheba,  and  when  their  Queen  was  converted 
to  Judaism  on  the  occasion  of  her  visit  to  Solomon,  she 
brought  back  the  Hebrew  religion.  Moreover,  by  Solomon, 
she  became  the  mother  of  her  successor  Menelek,  which 
accounts  for  the  opening  clause  of  the  Profession  of  Faith 
of  their  Emperor  Claudius : 

"  In  the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  one  God.  This  is  my  faith  and  the  faith 
of  my  Fathers,  Kings  of  Israel,  and  the  faith  of  my  flock, 
which  is  within  the  precincts  of  my  kingdom." 

Their  conversion  to  Christianity  they  attribute  to  the 
eunuch  of  Queen  Candace,  converted  by  St.  Philip. 

The  Coptic,  or  Egyptian  Church,  is  somewhat  associated 
with  the  Abyssinians,1  who  may  be  indeed  described  as  an 

1  Bishop  Gobat,  writing  to  King  Theodore  (June  13,  1863),  says  : 
"  Your  Majesty  will  be  grieved  to  hear  of  all  the  wrong  that  is  done 
to  your  subjects,  the  Abyssinian  priests  and  pilgrims  in  Jerusalem. 
.  .  .  The  Copts  and  the  Armenians  have  already  taken  the  Chapel 
belonging  to  your  Majesty,  and  now  they  want  to  take  whole  convents 
by  force.  . .  .  Formerly  the  English  Consul  protected  the  Abyssinians, 
but  now  there  is  a  new  Consul,  who  has  no  order  from  the  Queen  of 
England  to  protect  them." 

The  bond  between  the  Abyssinians  and  Copts  seems  to  have  been 
formerly  even  closer  than  now.  A  volume  of  travels  of  1822  :  Chris- 
tian Researches  in  the  Mediterranean,  speaks  of  the  Abyssinians  shar- 
ing the  Convent  of  the  Copts,  and  saying  their  Mass  in  the  Churches 

122 


HERESIES    IN   THE    EASTERN   CHURCH 

offshoot  of  the  Copts,  if  we  accept  the  more  tenable,  though 
the  less  romantic  hypothesis,  that  it  was  founded  from 
Abyssinia  in  the  fourth  century.  The  Church,  said  to  have 
been  founded  by  St.  Mark,  was,  in  its  early  days,  famous  for 
its  learning,  and  its  separation  from  the  Orthodox  Church 
on  the  condemnation  of  the  Monophysite  heresy,  was  an 
event  of  great  consequence.  The  Church,  even  in  Egypt, 
is  now  but  a  poor  remnant  of  its  former  prosperity,  and  has 
but  four  bishops  where  formerly  it  had  twelve. 

Then"  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  generally  lives  at  Jaffa,  pos- 
sibly because  the  Copts  possess  but  scanty  accommodation 
in  Jerusalem.  They  have  a  convent,  hospice,  and  a  chapel 
within  the  courtyard  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  but  all  poor, 
and,  if  one  may  judge  from  appearances,  without  ambition 
or  attempt  at  improvement.  At  Easter  they  receive  a  good 
many  pilgrims,  which  may  or  may  not  be  a  source  of  income. 

As  having  endured,  possibly,  more  persecution  than  any 
other  Church  in  the  world,  the  Copts  are  entitled  to  our 
reverence  and  respect,  and  it  is  interesting  to  reflect  that 
their  language,  however  much  debased,  is  probably  related 
with  that  to  which  Moses  listened  at  the  Court  of  Pharaoh. 
Their  clergy  are  poor  and  ill-educated,  and,  it  is  alleged, 
often  become  priests  to  evade  military  service.  Few  even 
understand  the  language  of  their  own  service-books,  but 
the  increasing  tendency  to  read  the  liturgy  in  Arabic  has 
not  yet  reached  Jerusalem. 

Of  the  "  United  "  oriental  Churches,  we  shall  speak  in 
connexion  with  the  work  of  the  Latins.  As  to  the  possibility 
of  re-union  between  the  Greek  and  Anglican  Churches,  it  is 
not  for  a  mere  outside  observer,  and  that  in  the  limited  area 

of  the  Copts  and  Armenians,  by  whom  they  were  for  the  most  part 
supported. 

Lady  Burton,  in  her  Inner  Life  of  Syria,  vol.  ii.,  also  speaks  of  the 
Chape!  of  St.  Helena  as  belonging  to  the  Abyssinians,  who,  she  says, 
"  allow  the  Armenians  to  use  it  for  a  certain  payment  in  bread  and 
soup." 

123 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  Palestine  only,  to  express  an  opinion.  Upon  the  broad 
basis  of  religious  charity,  unity  is,  of  course,  always  to  be 
desired,  or  rather,  divisions  are  to  be  deprecated  ;  otherwise 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  fusions  of  prejudices  are, 
in  this  instance,  not  entirely  obvious,  nor  are  we,  so  far  as 
one  can  gather,  regarded  by  the  other  side  as  wholly  desir- 
able allies.  The  presentation  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
Jerusalem,  until  the  consecration  of  St.  George's  Collegiate 
Church  in  1898,  has  not  been  such  as  to  commend  its  teach- 
ings to  those  of  other  Churches,  accustomed  to  frequent 
worship,  obedience  to  our  Lord's  injunction  of  fasting, 
reverence  to  sacraments,  and  observance  of  Church  seasons 
and  of  holy  days.  The  Greek  Church  has  never  questioned 
the  validity  of  Anglican  orders — the  great  stumbling-block 
in  regard  to  re-union  with  the  Latin  Church — and  has 
always  received  all  expressions  of  desire  for  re-union  with 
entire  courtesy,  apparent  readiness  to  entertain  friendly 
relations,  and  a  masterly  inactivity.  The  earliest  official 
attempt  at  approximation  on  the  part  of  England  seems  to 
have  been  made  in  the  year  1723,  and  repeated  in  1866-8. 
Later  there  was  a  correspondence  with  Archbishop  Tait, 
described  in  a  document  addressed  by  the  Greek  ecclesiasti- 
cal authorities  to  Canon  Dowling  in  1901  as  "  truly  brotherly 
letters,  full  of  pure  and  enlightened  Christian  love,  which  were 
exchanged  in  the  year  of  grace  1899  between  His  Holiness  the 
late  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  and  the  most  Reverend 
Frederic,  Lord  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Primate  of  all 
England."  A  permanent  committee  has  since  been  formed 
to  discuss  points  of  difference,  especially  as  to  the  teaching 
of  the  English  Church  in  relation  to  the  infallibility  of 
Church  Councils,  to  faith  and  good  works,  sacraments,  predes- 
tination, and,  above  all,  the  "  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
No  expression  of  kindly  feeling  could  be  more  gratifying 
to  the  English  Church  than  the  fact  that  it  is  owing  to 
Greek  liberality  that  her  clergy  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  celebrating  the  Holy  Eucharist  within  the  precincts  of 

124 


HERESIES    IN    THE    EASTERN    CHURCH 

the  Church  of  the  Resurrection,  more  commonly,  but  less 
correctly,  known  as  that  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  In  1885, 
on  Palm  Sunday,  the  very  Reverend  C.  R.  Hale,  D.D.,  Dean 
of  Davenport,  Iowa,  celebrated  at  the  altar  of  the  Chapel 
of  the  Greek  Monastery  of  Abraham,  and  from  time  to  time 
others  have  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege.  This, 
England's  one  slender  link  with  any  of  the  Holy  Places  of 
Jerusalem,  is  only  too  little  known,  the  very  existence  of 
the  chapel  being  ignored  in  every  English  guide-book  so 
far  as  I  have  discovered,  although  Baedeker  devotes  two 
lines  to  the  existence  of  the  monastery  for  the  sake  of  refer- 
ring to  the  size  of  its  cistern.  It  stands,  probably,  upon 
part  of  the  site  of  the  first  Latin  convent  built  in  Jerusalem 
by  order  of  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  in  the  year  601. 
Destroyed  by  Chosroes,  it  was  rebuilt  by  Charlemagne, 
and  under  the  name  of  St.  Mary  Latin  served  as  a  hospice 
for  pilgrims,  among  whom,  in  870,  was  Bernard  the  Monk, 
whose  records  are  so  valuable  a  treasure  to  the  historian. 
This  again  was  destroyed  by  Hakem,  but  rebuilt  some  ten 
years  later  with  the  same  dedication.  The  little  chapel  is 
one  of  at  least  three  places  in  Jerusalem  in  which  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac  is  located.  It  contains  some  curious 
frescoes,  notably  one  of  the  flight  of  Lot  from  Sodom, 
another  of  the  sacrifice  of  Abraham.  It  has  been  hand- 
somely restored  and  decorated,  mainly  by  the  English, 
somewhat  to  the  regret  of  the  archaeologist.  Anglicans 
visiting  Jerusalem  are  naturally  exceedingly  grateful  for 
such  a  privilege,  the  more  that  England  lost1  her  only  chance 

1  One  is  tempted,  however,  to  regret  the  loss  the  less,  upon  reflect- 
ing on  the  possible  consequences  to  the  world  of  archaeology  when 
one  reads  the  following  passage  written  by  a  distinguished  American 
antiquary  and  archaeologist,  Dr.  Peters.  "  In  1894,  in  the  grounds 
of  the  English  Bishop's  Church,  north  of  the  Damascus  gate,  a  tomb 
of  the  heathen  period  with  a  painted  fresco  was  discovered.  That 
is  the  only  painted  tomb  hitherto  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jeru- 
salem. I  regret  to  say  that  the  fresco  is  now  exposed  to  the  air  and 
the  painting  has  been  utterly  ruined." 

125 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  erecting  an  altar  of  her  own  in  any  site  of  sacred  as- 
sociations, when,  after  the  Crimean  War,  she  refused  the 
gift  of  the  site  of  an  early  Christian  church  beside  the 
probable  Pool  of  Bethesda  and  over  the  alleged  birth- 
place of  our  Lady,  where  now  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
churches  in  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  school,  seminary,  library 
and  museum,  have  been  raised  by  the  "  White  Fathers  " 
of  St.  Anne. 

This  Church  is  described  by  De  Vogue  as  being,  after  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  the  best  preserved  edifice  in  Jerusalem,  as 
having  come  down  to  us  just  as  it  was  built  in  the  first  half 
of  the  twelfth  century,  and  as  being,  as  such,  a  complete 
example  of  the  architecture  of  the  Crusaders  and  the  type 
of  all  their  religious  monuments  (De  Vogue,  Eglises  de  la  Terre 
Sainte,  p.  233). 

On  occasion  of  an  Anglican  celebration,  the  Greek  Patri- 
arch makes  all  preparations,  and  provides  the  bread  and 
wine.    A  costly  service  of  sacred  vessels,  presented  to  him  by 
friends  in  England,  is  kept  for  the  purpose,  and  as  Bishop 
Blyth,  in  his  Second  Charge,  points  out,  such  kindly  hospi- 
tality to  a  foreign  rite  is  "  full  of  hope  for  the  restoration 
of  the  Church's  unity,"  and  indeed  there  are  certain  points 
which  seem  to  indicate  the  possible  approximation  of  the 
Greek  and  Anglican  Churches  ;    in  both,  two  sacraments 
only  are  accounted    "  generally  necessary  to  salvation," 
and  in  the  Greek,  as  in  the  English  Prayer  Book,  the  real 
presence  is  expressed  without  being  defined.     Both  make 
use  of  a  tongue  "  understanded  of  the  people,"  both  com- 
municate fasting.     Both  reject  the  doctrine  of  Indulgences. 
The  views    of    the  Eastern  Church  upon  this  subject  are 
effectively  expressed  by  Philaret,   who  says,    "It  is  not 
difficult  for  sinners  to  give  gold  and  receive  heaven,  and  for 
the  pastor  to  give  heaven  and  receive  gold.     But  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  get  the  real  kingdom  of  God.     It  is  taken  by 
force." 

Those  who  best  know  the  tendency  of  the  Eastern  Church 

126 


HERESIES    IN   THE    EASTERN   CHURCH 

are  wont  to  declare  that,  despite  the  phenomenal  length  of 
its  services,  it  is  a  Church  of  the  people,  just  as  it  tends  to 
become,  wherever  it  be,  the  Church  of  the  Nation  ;  and  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Jews,  there  may  be  in  their  faith  some 
of  that  emotion  of  patriotism  which  is  inherently  absent  in 
the  Church  Catholic.  Attachment  to  the  faith  is  a  matter 
of  course  ;  the  congregations  are  mostly  of  men ;  there  is  no 
false  shame  in  confessing  religion  ;  the  Christos  Aneste  of 
the  Easter  greeting,  as  one  hears  it  even  in  the  streets,  is  a 
contrast  to  our  "  Merry  Christmas,"  which  is  at  least 
suggestive. 

The  liturgies  of  St.  Basil  and  St.  Chrysostom  are  familiar 
to   many   Anglicans   in   the   devotional   works   of   Bishop 
Andrew.      Their    vestments,    with    certain    differences    of 
ornamentation,   correspond  with   the   alb,    maniple,   stole, 
chasuble  and  pall.      There  is  a  certain  austerity  which  is 
probably,  like  their  art,  a  survival.     Their  pictures  are  all 
more  or  less  after  the  school  of  Cimabue.     They  are  without 
tenderness,  and  are  to  the  humanity  they  represent  what 
the  conventional  flower  of  decoration  is  to  the  primrose  or 
lily  of  daily  life.     This,  however,  does  not  apply  to  the  Slav 
or  Russian  Church,  which,  at  least  in  Jerusalem,  possesses 
many  pictures  of  serious  art  value.     In  contrast  also  to  that 
of  the  Russians,  the  Greek  singing,  also  a  survival,  is  a  nasal 
drawl  which  has  not  even  the  rhythm  of  Arab  music.     The 
Russian  singing  is  absolutely  unique,  and  is  inconceivable 
to  those  who  have  not  heard  it.     Even  the  pilgrims,  often 
old  men  and  women,  weary  perhaps  and  hungry,  lighten 
the   fatigue   of  then*  journey  or  the  monotony  of  waiting 
by  singing,  which  is  really  exquisite.     The  trained  singing 
of  their  churches  fills  one  with  wonder  and  astonishment. 
It  is  not  only  beautiful,  it  is  a  tour  de  force.     Their  chants 
and  melodies,  sung  harmoniously  and  in  parts,  have,  more- 
over, a  distinct  accompaniment,  preludes,  final  cadences, 
sustained  notes,  persisting  beyond  what  one  would  suppose 
the  possibilities  of  the  human  voice,  and  one  looks  around, 

127 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

despite  one's  knowledge  that  no  musical  instrument  is 
tolerated,  for  the  organ  or  deep-toned  viol,  which  has  pro- 
duced so  marvellous  an  illusion.  One  reflects  with  gratitude 
upon  the  oversight  which  has  prevented  some  entrepreneur 
from  importing  a  choir  of  Russian  peasantry  in  national 
costumes,  for  the  entertainment  of  English  Society. 

The  austerity  of  the  Eastern  Church  is  noticeable  in  the 
direction  of  then-  fasts,  and  one  can  well  understand  the 
phrase,  "  long  as  Lent."  For  some  226  days  in  the  year 
they  fast — clergy  and  laity  alike — abstaining  not  only  from 
meat,  but  from  eggs,  cheese,  milk,  butter,  and  even  from 
fish,  not  absolutely  of  the  bloodless  kind,  such  as  shell-fish, 
the  octopus,  and  such  like.  They  fast,  not  only  in  Lent  and 
Advent,  and  on  various  odd  days  in  the  year,  but  also 
from  Whitsuntide  to  St.  Peter's  Day,  and  again  for  the  first 
fortnight  of  August,  previous  to  the  great  festival  of  the 
Dormition  of  the  Virgin,  when,  here  in  Jerusalem,  they 
visit  her  alleged  tomb,  in  which  they  place  a  figure  for  the 
stimulus  of  devotion.  It  is  a  great  festival,  and  one  well 
worthy  of  the  observation  of  all  interested  either  in  its 
religious  aspect  or  merely  as  "  local  colour." 

The  very  ancient  subterranean  church  known  as  the 
Tomb  of  our  Lady  is  a  stone's  throw  from  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane,  and  is  venerated  almost  as  widely  as  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  There  are  altars,  not  only  for  Armenians  and 
Abyssinians,  as  well  as  Greeks  and  Copts,  but  even  a  praying 
niche  for  Moslems  ;  and  the  assemblage  of  worshippers  is 
indeed  varied.  Day  and  night  the  devotion  continues  ; 
there  is  the  nasal  drone  of  the  Greek,  the  devout  quiet  of 
some  passing  Latin,  the  sweet  litany  of  the  Russians.  At 
night  the  floor  is  not  strewn,  but  packed  with  resting  pil- 
grims, and  the  scene,  day  and  night,  is  illuminated  with 
hundreds  of  lamps,  many  of  them  in  gold  and  silver,  and  of 
antique  or  foreign  workmanship.  The  air  is  heavy  with  incense 
and  with  rosewater,  which  add  to,  rather  than  relieve,  the 
oppression  of  the  atmosphere,  for  the  underground  church, 

128 


HERESIES    IN   THE    EASTERN   CHURCH 

mainly  an  aggregation  of  grottoes  or  caves,  is  without  light 
or  ventilation,  except  through  the  door.  In  addition  to  the 
fasts  kept  by  the  laity,  the  monks  observe  fourteen  days  in 
September  previous  to  the  great  festival  of  the  Exaltation 
of  the  Cross,  when  the  true  Cross,  carried  away  by  Chosroes, 
was  restored  to  Jerusalem  by  the  Emperor  Heraclius,  who 
himself  bore  it  into  the  Holy  City. 

Sunday  is  so  absolutely  a  festival  that  fasting  on  that  day 
is  entirely  forbidden,  as  also  on  Saturday,  except  in 
Holy  Week,  for  they  manifest  their  respect  for  the  Old 
Testament  by  reverence  for  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  a  custom 
which  one  can  but  regard  with  respect.  Thus  in  Lent, 
when  the  fast  is  emphaszied  by  the  absence  of  the  consecra- 
tion of  the  sacred  elements,  Saturday,  as  well  as  Sunday, 
is  excepted,  and  the  presanctification  which  takes  place  on 
Sunday  is  of  five  loaves  only,  one  for  each  of  the  first  five 
days  of  the  week.  Their  austerity  is  manifested  also  in 
the  churches,  which  are  not  only  often  small,  and  generally 
dim  with  ornament,  destitute  of  seats,  even  the  misereres 
for  the  monks  but  little  used,  but  in  which  a  high  screen 
(the  iconastasis)  entirely  veils  the  sacrarium,  so  that  the 
laity  are  unable  to  participate — by  sight — in  the  mysteries 
of  their  faith. 

A  minor  point  of  contact  between  the  Anglican  and  the 
Oriental  is  the  common  regard  for  St.  George,  who,  in  Syria 
generally,  is  widely  venerated.  He  is  confused  alike  with 
Elijah  and  with  Perseus,  also  a  local  hero.1 

1  To  Jaffa,  Japho,  or  Japhoo,  as  it  is  variously  called,  an  ancient 
myth  assigns  the  locale  of  the  legend  of  Perseus  and  Andromeda  ; 
humorists  have  asserted  that  the  monster  slain  by  Perseus  was  the 
identical  whale  that  swallowed  Jonah,  and  which  desired  to  make 
a  second  and  more  permanently  successful  experiment.  The  bones 
of  a  huge  monster  were  long  an  object  of  curiosity  on  this  coast. 

As  early  as  the  sixth  century  a  church  stood  over  the  tomb  of 
St.  George,  at  Lydda,  a  village  not  far  from  Jaffa.  It  has  been  many 
times  destroyed,  but  was  finally  restored  by' the  Greeks  in  1870. 
The  Moslems  have  their  own  variants  of  the  tradition  of  St.  George, 

129  K 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

"  They  like  St.  George,  these  Arabs,"  explained  a  Latin 
priest,  himself  a  native,  doing  true  missionary  work  in  a 
remote  village.  "  They  like  St.  George — a  handsome  man, 
a  large  horse,  a  big  lance.  They  like,  too,  St.  Elias,  a  large 
nose,  a  big  beard — he  who  kills  the  priests  of  Baal,  who 
spills  their  blood ;  but  these  pale  saints  who  pray  always  " — 
and  he  concluded  with  the  expressive  Arab  gesture  of  wiping 
one's  hands  together,  and  so  being  rid  of  the  subject. 

It  is  true  enough  that,  here  in  Jerusalem,  one  realizes 
with  exceptional  vividness  the  unhappy  divisions  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  but  it  is,  fortunately,  equally  true  that 
one  becomes  conscious  here,  as  nowhere  else,  that  what  is 
divided  is  still  Christendom.  Here,  in  this  Babel  of  lan- 
guages, this  Pentecostal  aggregation  of  nationalities,  this 
exhibition  of  national  principles,  one  is  constantly  struck 
not  only  by  the  differences,  but  by  the  homogeneousness 
of  mankind.  The  points  of  contact,  the  inherent  sympathies, 
become  more  and  more  apparent,  and  more  and  more  one 
learns  that  the  true  Catholicism  is  not  that  which  obliterates 
nationality  and  the  many-sidedness  of  human  nature,  but 
that  in  which  it  is  sanctified  and  absorbed,  that  which 
allows  for  difference  of  the  expression  of  emotion  which 
is  universal  as  it  is  eternal. 

one  of  which,  obviously  in  allusion  to  the  dragon,  is  that  Mohammed 
declared  that  Christ  would  slay  the  Antichrist  at  the  Gate  of  Lydda. 


130 


VIEW  OF  THE  TEMPLE  AREA  (LOOKING  NORTH). 


CHAPTER  IX 
LATINS   IN   JERUSALEM 

PALESTINE  IN  ROMAN  TIMES — EARLY  PILGRIMS — FIRST 
MONASTERIES — FIRST  LATIN  CONVENT — BEGINNING  OP 
RIVALRY — PAPAL  ADDRESS — VICISSITUDES — SETTLE- 
MENTS IN  JERUSALEM — HOSPITAL — KNIGHTS  HOSPITAL- 
LERS— LATIN  ESTABLISHMENT  IN  THE  ELEVENTH  CEN- 
TURY— ORIGIN  OP  ENMITY  BETWEEN  EAST  AND  WEST 
CHURCHES — FRANCISCANS — CUSTODIANSHIP — HOSPITA- 
LITY AND  PHILANTHROPY 

JERUSALEM  is  but  a  small  town  of  60,000  inhabitants, 
standing  on  a  plateau  of  about  1,000  acres.  Pales- 
tine, the  little  province  of  which  it  is  the  capital,  is  but  140 
miles  long,  with  an  average  breadth  of  40  miles,  its  acreage 
about  that  of  the  principality  of  Wales.  Jerusalem,  Hebron 
and  Samaria  were  the  only  mountain  cities  known  to  the 
Jews,  and  as  such  are  often  described  in  such  terms  as  to 
make  one  think  of  them  as  of  great  elevation,  yet  the  Temple 
area  is  but  2,400  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  and 
Hebron  stands  400  feet  lower  than  the  summit  of  Helvellyn. 
The  traveller  Burchard  (1280)),  so  much  praised  for  his 
accuracy,  has  a  friendly  trick  of  measuring  distances  by 
familiar  comparison.  The  river  Jordan,  he  says,  is  from 
Jericho  as  Epping  is  from  London,  the  lake  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  is  from  Jericho  as  Gravesend  from  London;  the 
Valley  of  Gethsemane  is  from  Jerusalem  "  as  Ratcliffe  Fields 
lyeth  from  London."  A  writer  to  the  Times  a  few  years 

131 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

ago  (October  1880)  alleged  that  the  revenue  of  Palestine 
amounts  to  something  less  (residence  here  would  lead  one  to 
suppose  something  considerably  less)  than  £200,000  per 
annum,  and  suggested  that  the  European  powers  should 
raise  ten  millions  and  buy  it,  which,  fortunately  perhaps, 
for  all  concerned,  the  European  powers  refrained  from 
doing.  That  this  little  country  should  be  endeared  to  the 
religion  and  patriotism  of  all  Jews,  to  the  cult  of  all  mono- 
theists,  to  the  hearts  of  all  Christians,  is  conceivable  enough, 
but  in  estimating  the  causes  which  have  made  it  a  battle- 
field for  at  least  4,000  years,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  of  its  geographical  importance,  of  its  position  as  the 
highway  connecting  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  which,  all 
questions  of  sacred  association  apart,  is  and  has  been 
adequate  cause  for  the  continued  struggle,  political,  reli- 
gious, racial,  of  which  for  so  long  it  has  been  the  scene. 

Historians  tell  us  that  Palestine  has  always  been  coveted. 
Two  thousand  years  before  Christ,  we  are  told,  Gudea, 
king  of  Mongolia,  hewed  cedars  in  Lebanon,  and  brought 
granite  from  Sinai ;  that  the  Hittites  of  the  north  fought 
their  way  as  far  as  Hebron  ;  that  1320  years  B.C.  Palestine 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Setha  I,  king  of  Egypt ;  that  the 
Hebrews  fought  with  the  tribes  of  Canaan,  and  were  them- 
selves vanquished  by  Assyria  ;  that  Asiatic  influence  was 
succeeded  by  Greek,  by  Roman,  by  Frankish,  by  Arab,  by 
Egyptian,  by  Turkish.  And,  in  its  degree,  the  struggle  con- 
tinues, and  the  various  nations  represented  in  the  Holy  City 
seldom  combine  except  to  ask — as  the  case  may  be — why 
Russia,  more  than  other  nations,  should  be  allowed  to  build, 
why  Germany  to  transcend  in  opportunity  for  and  success 
in  excavation,  why  France  should  claim  to  be  the  protector 
of  Holy  Places,  why  Jews  should  have  been  permitted  to 
buy  some  130  square  miles  of  agricultural  land,  why  Eng- 
land should  do  nothing  in  particular,  not  even  run  a  post- 
office  or  keep  a  shop,  which  one  might  have  supposed  to  be 
quite  in  her  line  of  business. 

132 


LATINS   IN  JERUSALEM 

One  must  come  to  Syria  in  order  to  get  rid,  among  other 
superstitions,  of  the  notion  so  carefully  instilled  into  the 
stories  of  our  childhood,  that  our  Lord  was  born  in  an  obscure 
country,  imperfectly  civilized,  quiet  and  secluded,  thinly 
populated,  that  He  lived  only  among  the  poor,  and  preached 
only  a  simple  gospel  for  the  unlearned.  As  Sir  Walter 
Besant  has  well  put  it : —  1 

"  There  was  no  part  of  the  Roman  Empire  better  known, 
more  jealously  guarded,  more  anxiously  watched.  Nor  was 
it  a  quiet  and  secluded  country.  He  who  wandered  among 
the  hills  and  valleys  of  Galilee  was  never  far  from  some  great 
and  populous  city.  On  the  seaboard  there  were  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  Ptolemais  and  Antioch;  on  the  other  side  were 
Caesarea  Philippi  and  Tiberias.  .  .  .  The  land  was  densely 
populated  ;  there  were  schools  in  every  town  ;  there  was  a 
wealthy  society  ;  there  was  a  learned  society  ;  there  was  a 
Romanizing  section  ;  there  was  a  Judaizmg  section  ;  there 
were  everywhere  Rabbis,  merchants,  centurions,  legionaries, 
townsmen  and  peasants.  But  it  was  not  as  a  rustic  preach- 
ing to  rustics  that  our  Lord  went  about.  It  was  as  one  who 
had  learned  in  the  schools  of  the  rabbis,  as  one  who  was 
allowed  to  teach  in  the  synagogues  that  He  went  forth,  not 
in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  Roman  Empire,  but  in  a  part 
thoroughly  well  known,  full  of  Roman  civilization,  busy 
and  populous,  where  at  every  turn  He  would  meet  with 
something  to  mark  the  empire  to  which  it  belonged.  .  .  .  The 
one  Figure  remains.  He  wanders  about  the  shores  of  the 
Galilean  lake,  and  before  Him  are  the  splendid  buildings, 
the  strong  walls,  all  the  magnificence  of  a  noble  Roman  city." 

In  these  days  of  train  service,  telegraph  service,  machinery 
and  a  population  which  is  heir  to  all  the  ages,  the  resources 
of  Jerusalem  are  strained  to  the  utmost,  if,  as  very  occa- 
sionally has  happened,  8000  or  9000  pilgrims  arrive  about  the 
time  of  Easter.  What  must  have  been  the  possibilities,  the 

1  Address  to  the  P.E.F.,  1892. 
133 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

organization,  the  accommodation  two  thousand  years  ago 
when,  as  is  alleged,  two  millions  (or  let  us  halve,  quarter 
that  estimate)  annually  visited  the  Holy  City  to  make  their 
Passover  offerings  ?  France,  Russia  and  Germany  have 
beautified  the  modern  town  with  costly  buildings,  but  even 
in  architecture  the  contrast  with  the  past  is  at  least  as 
great,  and  when  we  sorrow  with  the  exiled  Jew  beside  the 
fragment  (1,600  feet)  of  wall  at  which  he  is  allowed  to  weep, 
when  we  look  up  at  the  fifty  feet  of  gigantic  masonry  towering 
above  our  head,  and  realize  that  fifty,  perhaps  eighty,  feet 
are  buried  below  us,  we  too  grieve  with  yonder  little  group 
of  mourners,  the  orthodox  congregation  of  ten,  who  are 
chanting,  "  For  our  walls  laid  low,  for  our  Majesty  departed, 
for  our  great  men  perished,  we  sit  here  and  weep  !  " 

Even  in  its  days  of  utmost  desertion,  from  the  destruction 
of  Jewish  Jerusalem  by  Titus  *  (70)  to  its  reconstruction  as  a 
pagan  city  by  Hadrian  in  136,  it  is  obvious  that,  for  reasons 
other  than  religious,  it  can  never  have  been  a  wholly  for- 
gotten or  neglected  spot.  The  Christians  were  banished  to 
Pella  just  before  the  siege  of  Titus,  and,  according  to  all 
ancient  authorities,  began  to  return  immediately  after  it, 
from  which  time  the  continuity  of  Christian  occupations 
(even  were  it  not  testified  by  the  succession  of  fifteen  bishops 
up  to  the  time  of  Hadrian)  has  never  been  disputed.2 
Hadrian  might  raise  a  temple  of  Venus  on  one  sacred  spot, 
a  temple  of  Jupiter  on  another,  but  the  very  effort  to  oblite- 
rate the  associations,  even  in  the  minds  of  the  indifferent, 
would  but  tend  to  preserve  them.  Mark  Twain's  name  is 

1  It  is  an  interesting  contribution  to  the  fact  of  the  political  con- 
sequence of  Jerusalem  that  the  city  was  besieged  at  least  twenty- 
seven  times  between  the  first  recorded  siege  of  Jebus  to  the  last,  by 
the  Kharezmians  in  1244.     That  of  Titus,  one  of  the  most  destruc- 
tive, was  the  twenty-second. 

2  Those  whose  object  is  to  dispute  the  succession  of  the  bishops 
do  so  on  the  ground  that  it  is  first  recorded  by  Eusebius,  who,  how- 
ever,   quotes   from  Hegesippus,   who  quotes   from    what   he   calls 
"  old  records." 

134 


LATINS    IN    JERUSALEM 

not  precisely  that  one  would  look  for  in  such  a  connexion  of 
ideas,  but  what  he  said  when  under  the  influence  of  one  of 
the  sacred  places  of  the  Holy  City  is,  for  many,  more  practi- 
cally convincing  than  more  learned  arguments : 

"  One  fully  believes  that  he  is  looking  upon  the  very  spot 
where  the  Saviour  gave  up  His  life.  He  remembers  that 
Christ  was  very  celebrated  long  before  He  came  to  Jerusa- 
lem ;  he  knows  that  His  fame  was  so  great  that  crowds 
followed  Him  all  the  time  ;  he  is  aware  that  His  entry  into 
the  city  produced  a  stirring  sensation,  and  that  His  reception 
was  a  kind  of  ovation  ;  he  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that 
when  He  was  crucified  there  were  very  many  in  Jerusalem 
who  believed  that  He  was  the  true  Son  of  God.  To  publicly 
execute  such  a  personage  was  sufficient  in  itself  to  make  the 
locality  of  the  execution  a  memorable  place  for  ages  ;  added 
to  this,  the  storm,  the  darkness,  the  earthquake,  the  rending 
of  the  veil  of  the  Temple,  and  the  untimely  waking  of  the 
dead,  were  events  calculated  to  fix  the  execution  and  the 
scene  of  it  in  the  memory  of  even  the  most  thoughtless  wit- 
ness. Fathers  would  tell  their  sons  about  the  strange  affair, 
and  point  out  the  spot ;  the  sons  would  transmit  the  story 
to  their  children,  and  thus  a  period  of  300  years  would  easily 
be  spanned,  at  which  time  Helena  came  and  built  a  church 
upon  Calvary  to  commemorate  the  death  and  burial  of  the 
Lord,  and  preserve  the  sacred  place  in  the  memories  of  men  ; 
since  that  time  there  has  always  been  a  church  there.  It  is 
not  possible  that  there  can  be  any  mistake  about  the  locality 
of  the  Crucifixion." 

It  was  not  at  all  events  until  the  year  1741  that  it  occurred 
to  any  one  (a  certain  Jonas  Korten x)  to  question  the  identity 
of  the  two  most  sacred  spots  in  the  Holy  City,  the  scenes  of 
the  death  and  burial  of  our  Lord.  And  when,  in  352,  the 
Emperor  Constantine  desired  Macarius,  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
to  build  "  an  oratory  on  the  place  of  the  Resurrection,"  the 
only  question  or  difficulty  of  which  we  hear  was  as  to  what 

1  Beise  Altona,  pp.  210-12. 
135 


amount  of  the  original  rock  or  other  mark  of  identity  would 
be  found  in  situ.1 

Two  years  before  the  consecration  of  the  Church  of  Con- 
stantine  the  anonymous  Bordeaux  Pilgrim  walked  from 
France  to  Palestine,  as  thousands  of  poor  Russian  men  and 
women  walk  from  remote  parts  of  their  own  country  every 
year,  even  in  our  own  day.  The  next  pilgrims  of  whom  we 
have  historical  record  are  devout  women  not  a  few  :  Sylvia, 
Paula,  Eustochia,  Melania.  The  idea  of  pilgrimage  was  not 
a  new  one,  nor  confined  to  Christians.  Pilgrims  made  their 
way  to  the  sacred  stone  of  Mecca  long  before  Mohammed, 
just  as  Chinese  pilgrims  braved  untold  dangers  in  pursuing 
their  way  to  the  Holy  Land  of  Buddha,  and  as  even  the 
Azteks  of  Mexico — so  the  Spaniards  reported — had  long 
been  accustomed  to  travel  for  worship  at  different  shrines. 
The  result  of  the  movement,  of  this  passion  of  expiating  the 
indifference  of  nearly  two  hundred  years  (136-313)  was  a 
gradually  increasing  immigration  of  European  Christians. 

"  The  land  where  the  seed  of  the  Crucified  Sower  had  so 
marvellously  fructified,  where  rgrew  the  first  ear  of  that  corn 
which  was  to  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  and  to  furnish  the 
religious  needs  of  the  world  for  centuries  with  the  bread  of 
the  Spirit ;  the  nursery  of  a  creed  whose  cradle  was  a  tomb 
and  whose  flag  a  gibbet— this  little  land  became  the  object 
of  a  special  adoration,  a  kind  of  topolatry,  when  the  Church 
mounted  with  Constantine  the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  and 
assumed  the  Imperial  diadem,  after  having  so  long  worn  a 
martyr's  crown.  So  great  was  this  love  of  Holy  Places,  and 
so  passionate  the  desire  to  expiate  the  cruel  mysteries  of 

1  Eusebius,  Vita  Con-st.  xxx.-xxxii.,  on  the  discovery  beneath  the 
Temple  of  Venus  of  the  Cave.  "  No  power  of  language  seems  worthy 
to  describe  the  present  wonder.  For  that  the  token  of  that  most 
Holy  Passion,  long  ago  buried  under  ground,  should  have  remained 
unknown  for  so  many  cycles  of  years  until  it  should  shine  forth  to 
His  servants,  truly  transcends  all  marvels — for  the  nature  of  the 
wonder  as  far  transcends  all  capacity  of  man's  reason  as  divine 
things  surpass  in  permanence  those  which  are  human." 

136 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

which  they  had  been  the  theatre,  that  during  the  whole 
Byzantine  period  Judaea  was  overrun  by  monks  and  trans- 
formed into  one  vast  convent."  1 

Although  there  was  a  colony  of  monks  at  Tekoa,  the  birth- 
place of  Amos,  founded  by  St.  Chariton,  who  died  in  410,  St. 
Jerome  was  probably  the  first  to  encourage  definitely  what 
Montalembert  has  called  "  that  permanent  emigration  which 
during  the  first  years  of  the  fourth  century  attracted  so  large 
a  number  of  Romans  and  other  occidental  Christians  towards 
Egypt  and  Palestine." 2  Other  monasteries  there  were, 
erected  by  men  known  in  the  Greek  Calendar,  St.  Euthymius, 
St.  Zozimus,  St.  Saba,  but  evil  days  came  upon  all  in  614, 
when  300  monasteries,  hospices  and  oratories  were  destroyed 
by  order  of  Chosroes. 

Only  fifteen  years  later,  however,  under  the  Emperor 
Heraclius,  we  hear  of  the  erection  of  monasteries  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  on  Mount 
Zion,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives  ;  at  Bethlehem,  Bethany,  and 
Mount  Tabor.  Pilgrims,  among  whom  Arculf  and  Willibald 
were  prominent  chroniclers,  flocked  in  immense  numbers  to 
the  Holy  Land,  and  we  learn  from  John  the  Deacon,3  the 
biographer  of  St.  Benedict,  that  Gregory  the  Great  sent  the 
Abbe  Probus  to  Jerusalem,  with  large  sums  of  money  for  the 
construction  of  a  hospice,  and  that  to  the  end  of  his  life  the 
Pontiff  never  ceased  to  provide  the  religious  of  Jerusalem 
as  well  as  those  of  Mount  Sinai  with  the  resources  necessary 
for  their  maintenance. 

However,  it  is  not  till  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  that 
we  have  actual  documental  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a 
Latin  convent  in  Jerusalem.  In  the  "  golden  days  "  of 
Haroun  er  Raschid,  to  whom  so  many  good  things  are  attri- 
buted, the  Holy  City  was,  in  a  certain  sense,  placed  under 


1  Clermont  Ganneau,  P.E.F.  1875. 

2  Montalembert,  Moincs  d1  Occident,  i.  pp.  165-6. 

3  John  Diac.  ii.  c.  52. 

137 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

the  protection  of  Charlemagne,  to  whom  were  transmitted  a 
relic  of  the  true  Cross,  and  later  the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, of  Calvary,  and  of  the  city,  with  a  standard,  at  the 
hands  of  two  priests,  one  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  one 
from  the  Convent  of  Mar  Saba.  The  Emperor  kept  his  guests 
with  him,  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  until  four  months  had  elapsed 
from  the  time  of  their  starting,  and  then  dismissed  them 
with  rich  presents  for  the  churches  of  Jerusalem. 

The  convent  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  thus  represented  at 
the  Imperial  court  was  undoubtedly  Benedictine,  as  we  learn 
from  the  Itinerary  of  Bernard  the  Monk,  who  travelled  in  the 
Holy  Land  in  870,  and  who  enumerates  a  "  Hospice  for 
pilgrims  and  a  Church  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  to 
which  belong  a  fine  library,  the  gift  of  the  Emperor  Charle- 
magne, a  dozen  houses,  fields,  vines,  and  a  garden  in  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat." 1  We  hear  later  of  other  communica- 
tions passing  between  the  two  great  powers,  and  a  letter  still 
remains  to  us,  of  unique  interest,  and  of  which,  if  only  as 
proof  of  the  fashion  in  which  history  repeats  itself,  it  is  worth 
while  to  give  some  account. 

On  Christmas  Eve,  809,  in  the  Grotto  of  the  Nativity  at 
Bethlehem,  began  the  first  of  that  series  of  hostilities  between 
the  Greeks  and  Latins  which,  in  the  same  place,  and  even 
at  the  same  holy  season,  have  been  so  often  repeated.  We 
ourselves  witnessed  a  like  scene  on  the  eve  of  Christmas, 
1902,  and  many  times,  often  in  still  severer  form,  have  the 
same  annoyances  occurred  during  the  thousand  years  inter- 
vening. The  alleged  causes  vary  :  in  809  the  Latin  priests, 
while  in  the  act  of  prayer,  were  assaulted,  and  an  attempt 
made  to  drive  them  from  the  church,  on  the  charge  of 
heresy.  That  question  having  been  threshed  out,  the  allega- 
tion, in  later  ages,  has  been  not  of  heretical  unfitness,  but  of 
trespass. 

The  letter  which  the  monks  addressed  to  Pope  Leo  III 

1  Bernard  ap  Tobler,  Itinera  Hierosolymitana  lat,,  1880.  Genevae, 
p.  314. 

138 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

was  the  parent  of  many  later  appeals  to  the  powers  of  the 
West,  religious  and  civil. 

"  We,  who  are  Frankish  pilgrims  (Franci  peregrini)  in 
this  holy  city  of  Jerusalem,  so  far  from  the  seat  of  Rome,  are 
a  part  of  the  flock  confided  to  your  care.  John,  a  monk  of 
St.  Saba,  has  dared  to  accuse  us  of  heresy — us,  Franks  of  the 
Mount  of  Olives 1 — and  to  suspect  our  orthodoxy.  Neverthe- 
less, our  faith  is  that  of  the  seat  of  Rome  ;  that  which  we 
sing,  we  have  heard  it  in  the  chapel  of  the  Emperor  Charles  ; 
that  which  we  believe,  we  find  in  the  Homilies  of  St.  Gregory 
and  in  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  which  the  Emperor  has  given 
to  us.  Vouchsafe  therefore  to  let  us  know  what  you  think 
of  the  sentiments  of  the  Fathers  on  the  subject  of  the  Filio- 
que, and  to  remind  your  son,  the  Emperor  Charles,  that  we 
heard,  in  his  chapel,  the  words  qui  ex  Patre  Filioque  procedit.2 
Vouchsafe  also  to  receive,  with  favour,  our  delegates  .  .  • 
and  to  remit  us  your  orders  by  their  hands.  We  all,  your 
humble  servants,  Dominic,  Theodore,  Arimond,  Gregory, 
John,  Leo,  and  all  the  community  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
commend  ourselves  to  your  charitable  prayers,  and  we  pray 
the  Saviour  to  bless  and  exalt  His  holy  Church." 

This  letter  contributed  to  the  convocation  in  November, 
809,  of  the  Council  of  Aix  la  Chapelle,  in  which  the  question 
of  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  discussed. 

After  the  death  of  Haroun  er  Raschid  in  809,  civil  war 
broke  out  in  Syria  between  the  respective  followers  of  his 
two  sons.  Churches  and  monasteries  were  pillaged,  though, 

1  M.  le  Comte  Riant  (Etude-  sur   VEglise  de  Bethleem)  regards  this 
as  a  probable  indication  of  the  presence  of  a  Benedictine  establish- 
ment at  Bethlehem,  associated  with  that  of  the  Mount  of  Olives. 
The  Commemoratorium  of  Charlemagne  contains  a  possible  allusion 
to  such  a  community. 

2  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  addition  to  the  Nicene  Creed  of 
the  filioque  clause,   "  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son," 
began  in  Spain,  after  the  Council  of  Toledo,  in  589.     In  the  ninth 
century  it  was  customary  in  Gaul  and  in  Germany,  and,  upon  the 
demand  of  the  Emperor  Henry,  was  adopted  by  Pope  Benedict  VIII 
in  1014. 

139 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

as  we  have  already  seen,  the  Benedictine  convent  was  again 
in  possession  of  its  property  in  870,  at  the  time  of  the  visit 
of  Bernard  the  Monk.  As  time  went  on,  however,  the  power 
of  the  West,  which  had  been  strong  with  the  individual 
strength  of  Charlemagne,  was  overshadowed  by  that  of  the 
Emperors  of  the  East. 

They  were  unable  nevertheless  to  protect  the  Holy  Land 
against  the  fanaticism  of  the  Caliph  Hakem,  who,  it  is  said, 
was  incited  against  the  Christians  less  by  the  Moslems  than 
by  the  Jews.  In  1010  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  profaned,  the 
church  destroyed,  and  the  patriarch  put  to  death.  However, 
by  some  change  of  mood,  some  say  by  the  influence  of  his 
mother,  who  was  a  Christian,  others,  in  consequence  of 
a  quarrel  with  the  Jews,  Hakem  permitted  the  rebuilding 
of  the  Holy  Places,  funds  being  provided,  in  great  part,  by 
the  immense  number  of  pilgrims  who  were  flocking  to  Jeru- 
salem from  all  parts  of  Europe. 

With  the  facilitation  of  travel  there  came,  naturally 
enough,  increase  of  commerce,  which  was  largely  in  the 
hands  of  merchants  from  Lombardy  and  Amalfi,  upon  whom 
the  Caliphs  and  wealthy  Syrians  came  to  be  dependent  for 
European  luxuries,  and  whom  they  were  in  consequence 
ready  to  protect. 

It  thus  became  possible  to  secure  the  consent  of  the 
Government  to  the  establishment,  in  the  Christian  quarter  of 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  of  a  permanent  d  welling  for  the  Amalfi  merchants 
and  for  other  Christian  travellers.  In  order  that  this  might 
be  placed  in  the  charge  of  resident  Europeans  (the  monks  of 
Syria,  in  consequence  of  Byzantine  influence,  being  entirely 
followers  of  the  Greek  rites),  a  band  of  monks,  in  charge  of 
an  abbe,  was  brought  from  Italy,  and  the  monastery  and 
church  originally  erected  by  Charlemagne,  henceforth  known 
as  St.  Mary  of  the  Latins,1  restored  for  their  use.  In  1023 

1  So  called  from  their  use  of  the  Latin  rites.  The  title  was  applied 
equally  to  all  the  three  houses  which  were  erected  on  this  site.  There 

140 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

the  Sultan  Mouzzafer  granted  a  firman  (still  to  be  seen  in 
the  archives  of  the  Franciscans  in  Jerusalem)  according  pro- 
tection to  all  Franks  belonging  to  religious  Orders  established 
in  the  Holy  City. 

The  pilgrimages  included  many  women,  and  this  led  to  the 
establishment  of  a  second  hospice  and  convent,  known  as 
S.  Mary  the  Less.  As,  considering  the  difficulties  of  travel- 
ling there  would  doubtless  be  many  sick,  the  erection  of  a 
hospital,  with  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  John,  was  the  next 
development,  and  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  pious  laity,  con- 
verts or  oblates  of  the  Order,  it  became  ultimately  the 
cradle  of  the  world-famous  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
Knights  Hospitallers1,  and,  to  use  the  term  they  themselves 
employed,  Guardians  of  the  Poor. 

is  considerable  evidence  that  the  clergy  thus  introduced  were  Bene- 
dictines from  the  Abbey  of  the  Sainte  Trinit6  de  la  Cava,  who  were 
established  by  St.  Alferius  and  followed  the  Cluny  use,  thus  first 
brought  into  Palestine.  This  very  popular  Order  gave  origin  to 
the  contemporary  saying  :  Esse  ubique  asseres  Cavenses  et  passeres. 
There  was  special  suitability  in  the  choice  of  this  community  to 
serve  in  Jerusalem,  for  southern  Italy  was  still  nominally  dependent 
on  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  the  monks,  being  almost  Greeks  by 
nationality,  would  the  more  easily  establish  themselves  among  those 
of  the  Eastern  Church.  The  pious  monks  of  Jerusalem  and  of  La 
Cava  carried  on  the  traditions  of  the  Amalfitan  foundation,  and  I 
learn  from  the  present  Prior  of  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  in  Jerusalem 
that  Baldwin  accorded  to  the  vessels  of  La  Cava  the  right  of  naviga- 
tion among  the  ports  of  his  kingdom,  for  the  exchange  of  merchan- 
dize, bringing  necessaries  for  the  Religious  Houses,  and  carrying 
back  the  produce  of  the  East.  Similar  special  facilities  are  still 
accorded  to  the  religious  Orders  in  Jerusalem  by  certain  lines  of  steam- 
boats. 

1  The  controversy  as  to  the  possibly  later  and  independent  origin 
of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  who,  according  to  some,  followed  not  the 
Benedictine  but  the  Augustinian  rule,  has  perhaps  been  laid  to  rest 
by  the  discovery  of  charters  of  the  Hospital  bearing  date  1083-4-5, 
which  make  it  evident  that  the  Hospital  existed  before  the  Crusades, 
and  that  it  was  directed  by  Benedictines  (Saige,  De  Vaneiennete  de 
Vhopital  Saint  Jean  de  Jerusalem  ;  also  Delaville  le  Roulx,  De  prima 
origine  Hospitaliorum  hierosotymitanorum,  1885).  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that,  even  before  this  discovery,  Vertot,  while  assigning  the 

141 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

The  Crusades  by  no  means  diminished  the  frequency  of 
pilgrimages,  even  apart  from  the  immense  number  of  clergy 
who,  either  as  chaplains  or  as  voluntary  followers,  came  in 
the  train  of  the  Church  militant. 

I  have  dwelt  at  possibly  undue  length  upon  certain  points 
distinctly  and  definitely  Latin  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
in  Jerusalem,  previous  to  the  Crusades,  in  order  to  make  it 
evident  that  the  rites  and  teaching  of  the  occidental  Church 
were  not,  as  many  would  have  us  suppose,  a  new  importation 
consequent  upon  the  Frankish  immigration  from  the  west 
and  north  of  Europe.  We  have  documental  evidence  that 
for  some  seven  hundred  years  the  two  rites  had  existed  side 
by  side,  although  that  of  the  East  had  undoubtedly  been  the 
stronger,  as  belonging  to  the  empire  and  nearest  to  the  seat 
of  government.  It  was,  for  example,  with  the  Greek  or 

Augustinian  rule  to  the  subsequent  foundations  of  the  Canons  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  and  the  Knights  Templars,  makes  no  such  mention 
in  connexion  with  the  Knights  Hospitallers,  whom  he  always  speaks 
of  by  their  later  designation  of  Knights  of  Malta,  and  whose  origin 
he  quaintly  describes  as  having  arisen  among  the  patients  of  the 
Hospital.  Though  he,  perhaps  erroneously,  thus  assigns  the  later 
date,  his  account  of  the  initiation  of  the  Order  is  too  picturesque  to 
omit.  "  Several  young  gentlemen  who  had  just  had  an  happy  experi- 
ence of  it  (that  is  of  '  the  great  charity  of  the  Hospitallers,  who  spared 
no  pains  for  their  relief '),  renounced  all  thoughts  of  returning  into 
their  own  country,  and  devoted  themselves,  in  the  House  of  St.  John, 
to  the  service  of  the  poor  and  pilgrims  .  .  .  Though  Godfrey  by 
this  means  lost  some  gallant  men  who  had  done  him  great  service, 
he  could  not  but  look  upon  their  change  with  joy  and  perhaps  with 
pious  emulation . . .  The  hospital  was  in  a  little  time  enriched  with 
a  great  number  of  lands  and  manors  as  well  in  Europe  as  in  Palestine." 
He  then  describes  how,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Abbe  G6rard,  after 
the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  both  the  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Order 
were  invested  with  the  black  mantle  and  white  linen  cross  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  "  at  the  foot  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  took  the  vows  of 
poverty,  chastity  and  obedience  "  (Vertot,  History  of  the  Knights  of 
Malta,  vol.  i.  pp.  19-20,  ed.  1728). 

':>  We  gather  from  Matthew  Paris,  however,  that  this  dress  was  after- 
wards changed.  Postmodum  verd  tempore  Eugenii  Papae  cruces  de 
panno  rubeo  suis  assuerunt  mantellis,  ut  a  caetaris  possent  hoc  signo 
discerni.  (Matt.  Paris,  Hist.  AngL,  ed.  1640,  p.  67.) 

142 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

Oriental  Church  that  Omar  made  terms,  and  the  Greek  is  to 
this  day  technically  known  as  "  the  Orthodox,"  and  is  that 
officially  recognized  ;  so  that  "  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  " 
invariably  means  the  Greek  Patriarch,  and  "  the  Christian 
Church  "  that  holding  the  Greek  creed.  From  very  early 
days  there  had  always  been  the  four  main  points  of  differ- 
ence, the  recognition  of  Papal  authority,  the  filioque  clause 
in  the  Creed,  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  and  the  use  of  un- 
leavened bread  in  Communion ;  but  with  few  exceptions, 
the  good  understanding  between  the  Greeks  and  Latins  had 
been  little  interrupted,  and  although  the  Greeks  were  prob- 
ably alive  to  the  fact  that  Rome  would  not  hesitate  to  seize 
an  opportunity  for  establishing  religious  just  as  much  as 
temporal  supremacy,  it  was  only  with  the  foundation  of  the 
temporal  kingdom  that  the  differences  became  irreconcil- 
able.1 

The  establishment  of  the  Latin  kingdom  in  1099  led 
naturaUy  to  the  reorganization  of  religious  matters,  accord- 
ing to  the  faith  of  the  Western  Church  under  Latin  clergy 
with  Latin  patriarchs.  We  read  that  the  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem  had  as  suffragans  four  archbishops,  nine  bishops, 
the  Master  of  the  Knights  of  St.  Lazarus,  nine  mitred  abbots 
and  five  priors,  all  of  the  Latin  rite  ;  with  moreover  fifteen 
native  prelates — Armenians,  Syrians,  Jacobites  and  Greeks. 

1  Thus  Milman  would  appear  to  ignore  somewhat  the  previous 
conditions,  when  he  writes,  "  The  establishment  of  Latin  Christianity 
in  the  East  was  no  less  a  foreign  conquest  (than  the  Empire).  It 
was  not  the  conversion  of  the  Greek  Church  to  the  Creed,  the  usages, 
the  ritual,  the  Papal  supremacy  of  the  West ;  it  was  the  foundation, 
the  superinduction  of  a  new  Church,  alien  in  language,  in  rites,  in  its 
clergy,  which  violently  dispossessed  the  Greeks  of  their  churches 
and  monasteries  and  appropriated  them  to  their  own  uses."  Fleury 
would  seem  to  enter  more  into  the  spirit  of  the  age,  when  he  says, 
"  The  Greeks  always  believed  that  the  Latins  had  an  eye  to  their 
empire,  and  what  happened  (after  the  second  Crusade)  too  well  justi- 
fied their  suspicions.  The  conquest  of  Constantinople  brought 
about  the  loss  of  the  Holy  Land  and  made  the  schism  of  the  Greeks 
irreconcilable."  Fleury,  Sixtime  Discours  sur  PHistoire  Ecdesiaa- 
tique. 

143 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

Twenty  monasteries  of  these  various  rites  were  comprised 
within  the  limits  of  this  patriarchate.1     The  position  of  the 
Patriarch  was  much  strengthened  by  the  creation  of  the 
Sepulchrans  or  Canons  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  who  swore 
obedience  to  no  prior  or   abbot,  but  to  the  Patriarch  only.2 
This  synod  consisted  of  five  abbots  and  a  prior,  all  of  mitred 
dignity.     His  spiritual  seigneury  was  co-extensive  with  that 
of  the  king.      The  Benedictines,  hitherto  the  only,  still  re- 
mained the  chief,  representatives  of  the  Western  Church, 
and  in  addition  to  their  convents,  churches,  hospices  and 
hospital  already  mentioned,  they  established  other  hospitals 
and  schools  in  connexion  with  religious  houses  in  the  Valley 
of  Jehoshaphat,  on  Mount  Tabor,  at  Bethany,  Antioch,  and 
Nazareth,  altogether  to  the  number  of  about  a  dozen.     It 
is  interesting  to  notice  that  those  popes  most  active  in  pro- 
moting the  Crusades  belonged  to  the  Benedictine  Order, 
and  their  houses  continued  to  flourish  and  to  exercise  con- 
siderable power  up  to  the  time  of  the  Moslem  conquest  of 
Jerusalem  in  1187,  when  they  retired  to  Acre,  which,  from 
the  presence  there  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  has  been  since 
called  S.  Jean  d'Acre  in  place  of  its  former  name  of  Ptolemais. 
Historians  teach  us  that  the  apparently  unconquerable 
enmity  between  the  eastern  and  western  branches  of  the 
Church  dates  from  the  period  of  the  fourth  Crusade,  which, 
from  being  a  war  of  defence  of  the  Holy  Places,  was  diverted 
into  an  attack  upon  the  eastern  Christians.     Constantinople 
was  attacked  in  April  1204.      The  empire  was  in  a  state  of 
internal  disruption,  with  two  rival  emperors,  Alexius  V  and 
Theodore  Lascaris,  each  with  his  own  following.     "  Never 
was  victory  more  cruelly  abused.     The    conduct    of    the 
champions  of  the  Cross  in  their  hour  of  victory  formed  a  sad 

1  Rey,  Les  Colonies  jranques  de  Syrie  aux  XII*  et  XIII"  Siecles, 
267-8,  1883. 

2  William  of  Tyre  complains  that  the  original  order  of  twenty 
Augustinian  Canons  under  a  prior   was  changed  by  the  Patriarch 
Arculphus. 

144 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

contrast  with  that  of  the  Mussulmans  under  Saladin,1  when 
the  latter  conquered  Jerusalem."  The  account  given  by 
the  Pope  himself,  Innocent  III,  is  too  horrible  for  transla- 
tion ;  he  had  done  his  utmost  to  prevent  the  deviation  of 
the  purpose  of  the  Crusade,  but  naturally  did  not  refrain 
from  seizing  the  opportunity  of  extending  his  power  and 
that  of  the  Church.  "  The  consequence  of  the  Pope's 
action  was  and  still  is  that  the  Greek  Church  spurns  the  idea 
of  returning  to  union  with  the  Roman  Church."  3 

Innocent  IFI  himself  wrote  :  "  How  is  it  possible  that  the 
Greeks  should  ever  return  to  unity  when  they  have  been 
treated  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  regard  the  Latins  as 
dogs  ?  " 

After  the  period  of  the  Crusades,  the  Franciscans,  the 
peaceful  Crusaders  of  the  Holy  Land,  may  be  regarded  as, 
for  nearly  seven  hundred  years,  the  representatives  of  Latin 
Christianity  in  Palestine.  When  Pope  Innocent  III  dreamed 
that  he  saw  the  grand  church  of  St.  John  Lateran  falling  into 
ruins,  held  up  only  by  the  poor  brown-frocked  figure  whom 
he  had  that  day  waved  from  his  presence — when  St.  Francis 
heard  in  vision  the  voice  of  the  Crucified,  saying,  "  Go  re- 
build my  house,  which,  as  thou  seest,  is  falling  into  ruins," 
may  not  the  meaning,  at  least  in  some  degree,  have  related 
not  only,  as  supposed,  to  the  material  structure  of  St.  Damian, 
or  the  three  ruined  churches  of  Assisi,  not  only  generally  to 
the  living  Church  of  Christ  which  he  restored  to  a  new  and 
higher  life,  but  to  those  sacred  spots  in  the  Holy  City  of 
which  the  sons  of  St.  Francis  were  hereafter  to  be  the 
Guardians  ? 

There  is  no  documental  evidence  of  the  date  of  their 
arrival.  One  tradition  is  that  the  earliest  Franciscans  in 
the  Holy  Land  were  hermits,  living  in  cells  hewn  in  the 

1  It  is  a  recognized  fact  that  the  Saracens  always  respected  the 
Holy  Places. 

2  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  Hore,  chap.  xii. 

3  Hore,  op.  cif. 

145  L 


rocky  foundation  of  the  Benedictine  Convent  of  St.  George, 
in  the  Black  Mountain  near  Antioch,  about  the  year  1210, 
but  the  more  usual  version,  which,  however,  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  other,  is  that  their  first  appearance  was  in 
the  year  1219  under  the  leadership  of  St.  Francis  himself, 
who  was  already  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Sultan  Melek 
el-Khamel,  whom  he  had  indeed  hoped  to  convert.  In  the 
year  1229  this  same  Sultan  ceded  the  Holy  City  to  the 
Emperor  Frederic  II,  so  that  for  a  time  the  safety  of  the 
Christians  was  assured,  and  it  is  the  fact  of  his  excommunica- 
tion which  gives  us  our  first  definite  date  in  the  history  of 
the  Franciscan  occupation,  for  in  1230  Pope  Gregory  IX 
sent  two  Franciscans  as  legates  of  the  See  to  arrange  matters 
in  regard  to  the  Emperor  in  Palestine,1  expressing  the  desire 
that  the  Patriarch  would  give  them  every  assistance. 

Dr.  Schick,  who  has  preserved  many  gems  of  history 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  utterly  lost,  describes  a 
long  tunnel-like  vault  in  the  Armenian  Convent  of  Zeitun, 
shown  to  him  as  having  afforded  refuge  to  the  Franciscans 
in  1244,  when  the  Kharezmians  destroyed  their  convent  on 
Mount  Sion. 

The  earliest  evidence  of  political  acknowledgement  of  the 
Order  is,  so  far  as  I  can  discover,  in  a  firman  dated  1250,  in 
which  the  Sultan  Melek  el-Aschraf  mentions  twelve  sultans 
who  had  protected  the  Franciscans,  the  first-named  being  a 
brother  of  Melek  el-Khamel,  the  friend  of  St.Francis.  Another 
firman,  dated  1295,  by  the  Sultan  Daher  gives  permission  to 
the  religious  of  Mount  Sion  to  restore  their  convent ;  while 
another,  only  fourteen  years  later,  is  addresed  "  to  the  re- 
ligious Franciscans  of  the  cord,"  -  and  speaks  of  them  as 

1  The  Bull  still  exists  and  begins  "  Si  ordinis  Fratrum  Minorum." 
See  Calahorra,  Chronica  de  Syria  y  Terra  Santa,  vol.  ii.  ch.  vi.  Another 
Bull,  dated  1257,  Alexander  IV,  is  addressed  to  the  religious  of  the 
province  of  the  Holy  Land,  showing  that  they  must  have  attained 
to  some  considerable  number. 

2  Sir  John  Maundrell  in  1322,  and  de  la  Brocquierein  1432,  speak 
of  the  "  Christians  of  the  Girdle,"  but  this  may  be  an  allusion  to  the 

146 


occupying  the  Convents  of  the  Coenaculum,  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre and  Bethlehem. 

The  convent  on  Mount  Sion  was  on  the  alleged  site  of  the 
"  Upper  room  furnished,"  or  Coenaculum,  which  has  so 
many  associations  for  the  Christian  (St.  Lukexxii.,  St.  John 
xx.,  possibly  Acts  ii.  1-4  ;  also  Acts  i.  13,  and,  according 
to  a  very  old  tradition,  Acts  vi.  1-6).  A  church  seems  to 
have  existed  upon  this  site  from  very  early  times,  and  is 
mentioned  by  the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim  (333),  by  St.  Jerome 
(382— letter  86),  byArculf  (670),  Willibald(722),  and  Bernard 
the  Wise  (870).  Saewulf  (1103)  speaks  of  it  as  in  ruins  ;  but 
in  1212  Willebrand  of  Oldenbourg  speaks  of  a  fine  convent 
largum  et  pulchrum  aspectu  cenobium  ;  and  it  appears  to 
have  been  handsomely  restored  by  the  Crusaders  and  served 
by  the  canons  of  St.  Augustine  up  to  the  dissolution  of  the 
Frank  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  in  1187.  The  Franciscans 
took  formal  possession  of  the  church  and  convent  in  1342, 
when  it  was  purchased  for  them  by  Robert  of  Sicily,  and 
handed  to  the  Papal  See  on  the  condition  that  the  Francis- 
cans should  be  regarded  as  its  custodians  in  perpetuity 
(Nov.  21,  1342)  ;  and  then  it  was  that  they  built,  out  of 
existing  material,  the  little  Gothic  chapel  which  still  covers 
a  part  of  the  nave  of  the  earlier  and  larger  crusading  build- 
ing. 

The  title  of  Guardian  of  Mount  Sion,  still  possessed  by  the 
Custode  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  is  all  that  remains  to  them 
of  this,  their  earliest  possession.  Moslem,  or,  according  to 
some,  Jewish  jealousy  of  the  tomb  of  David,  alleged  to  exist 
on  the  same  spot,  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the  Franciscans  in 
1551.1 

fact  that  the  Caliph  Motawakkel  in  856  had  ordered  Christians  and 
Jews  to  wear  a  leathern  girdle  for  distinction.  De  la  Brocquiere 
speaks  of  the  "  Cordeliers  "  of  Bethlehem  as  being  under  great  sub- 
jection. Their  vicissitudes  were  certainly  frequent. 

1  I  give  this  date  on  the  authority  of  Calahorra,  Chronica  de  la 
provincia  de  Syria  y  Terra  Santa,  iv.  chap.  xv.  p.  395,  though  later 
ones  are  elsewhere  commonly  given.  He  tells  us  that  the  order  for 

147 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

A  firman  dated  700  of  the  Hejira,  1309  of  our  era,  giving 
to  the  Custode  power  to  execute  repairs  to  the  church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  shows  that  the  Franciscans  were  at  that 
time  in  possession  there,  and  moreover,  in  1363,  by  means 
of  an  arrangement  made  with  the  Sultan  Chabab  ben  Hassan 
by  Jeanne,  Queen  of  Naples,  they  had  permission  to  build  a 
convent  on  a  former  Benedictine  foundation,  near  the  alleged 
tomb  of  the  Virgin  ;  but  neither  site  provided  sufficient 
accommodation  for  themselves  and  for  the  hospitality  for 
which  they  were  already  famous. 

The  advancement  of  the  Franciscans  had  been  contem- 
porary with  the  decline  of  the  Georgians  or  Iberians,  who 
have  been  described  as  in  some  sort  their  rivals,  or  at  least 
their  predecessors,  in  the  care  of  the  Holy  Places.  They 
too  had  encouraged  pilgrimages,  established  some  dozen  of 
religious  houses,  entertained  strangers,  made  rich  offerings 
to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  possessed,  according  to  their 
historian  Jossilian  (Georgian  Hist.  cap.  viii.)  "  half  Golgotha." 
Baumgarten,  who  visited  Jerusalem  in  1507,  speaks  of  their 
establishment  on  Mount  Calvary.  They  had  been  originally 
settled  in  Jerusalem  by  the  liberality  of  Constantine,  who 
bestowed  a  grant  of  land  on  their  king  out  of  sympathy,  it 
is  said,  for  his  having  made,  like  Helena,  a  pilgrimage  at  an 
advanced  age.  They  were  now  politically  enfeebled,  and 
unable  to  support  their  establishments  in  Jerusalem,  among 
others  that  of  the  convent  and  church  of  St.  John  the  Divine, 
originally  built  by  King  Vachtang  about  446,  and  which 
they  were  now  glad  to  sell  to  the  Franciscans,  to  whom  it 


expulsion  was  given  by  Soliinan  the  Magnificent  in  1549  and  executed 
two  years  later  at  the  time  when  Paul  Marino  was  the  energetic 
and  capable  Custode.  An  old  and  very  rare  book  of  travels  by 
Pierre  Belon  de  Mans,  who  visited  the  Holy  Land  in  1553,  speaks  of 
thirty  Franciscans  having  been  ejected  from  their  convent  on  Mount 
Sion  and  their  church  turned  into  a  mosque.  He  adds  that 
they  had  been  re-instated  at  the  instance  of  the  French  ambassador 
at  Constantinople. 

148 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

became  the  Casa  Nuova  or  Nova,  the  New  House.1  The 
church,  which  is  the  Latin  parish  church  of  Jerusalem,  has 
latterly  been  practically  rebuilt  and  surrounded  by  a 
convent,  also  enlarged,  so  as  to  accommodate  one  hundred 
religious.  The  Casa  Nova  is  reserved  for  a  hospice,  and 
having  been  restored  and  enlarged  by  American  liberality, 
is  now  capable  of  accommodating  between  two  and  three 
hundred  guests,  who  are  received  irrespective  of  creed,  sex 
or  nationality,  and  permitted  to  remain  for  twenty-one  days.^ 

For  another  300  years  the  Franciscans  remained  the  sole 
Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places  and  of  the  Latin  faith  in  Jeru- 
salem, gradually  enlarging  their  sphere  and  widening  their 
ambitions,  so  as  best  to  serve  what  they  themselves  call 
their  triple  mission  of  defending  the  Holy  Places,  showing 
hospitality  to  pilgrims,  and  "  preaching  the  Gospel  where 
it  was  inaugurated  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself." 

The  president  of  the  Friars  Minor  has  no  dignity  of  abbot  or 
prior,  but  his  title  of  Custodian  of  the  Holy  Places  is  a  greater 

1  The  visit,  to  the  new  guest-house,  of  Prince  Radzwil  in  1583  is 
described  by  Mouravieff,  Guide-Indicateur  de  la  Terre-Sainte,  par  Le 
Frere  Lievin,   O.F.M.,  1897,   c.  xxxviii. — a  book  to  which  in  many 
matters  relating  to  Franciscan  history  in  Jerusalem,  I  once  for  all 
acknowledge  my  indebtedness. 

2  I  recall  one  occasion  when,  at  the  Casa  Nova  in  Jerusalem,  the 
guests  at  table  represented  the  following  languages  :  English  (which 
included  a  Gaelic-speaking  Scot  and  an  American),  French,  German, 
Italian,  Spanish  (including  a  representative  of  South  America  as  well 
as  of  the  Peninsular),  Greek  and  Russian.     There  was  a  missionary 
from  China,  and  an  English  officer  from  India,  and  there  were  ser- 
vants present  who  spoke  Turkish  and  Arabic.     A  Franciscan,  having 
to  give  out  a  notice  of  interest  to  all  present,  after  one  despairing 
look  round  the  table,  addressed  us  in  Latin.     Mark  Twain,  who 
frankly  owns  to    anti-ultramontane   prejudice,  writes,  nevertheless, 
"  There  is  one  thing  I  feel  no  disposition  to  forget,  and  that  is  the 
honest  gratitude  I,  and  all  pilgrims,  owe  to  the  convent  fathers  in 
Palestine.     A  pilgrim  without  money,  whether  he  be  a  Protestant 
or  a  Catholic,  can  travel  the  length  and  breadth  of  Palestine  and  in 
the  midst  of  her  desert  wastes  find  wholesome  food  and  a  clean  bed 
every  night,  in  these  buildings."     No  one  will  interfere  with  his. 
religious  views,  and  no  one  will  ask  him  to  pay. 

149 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

distinction  than  mitre  or  crozier.  Some  of  the  sites  have 
been  lost  to  them,  however  good  may  have  been  their  original 
title  by  firman  or  purchase.  They  lost,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Coenaculum,  although  by  the  courtesy  of  the  present  pro- 
prietors they  are  permitted  to  say  Mass  within  the  enclosure 
during  twenty-four  hours  at  every  Whitsuntide.  Although 
a  firman  of  1363  put  them  in  possession  of  the  Benedictine 
Church  at  the  alleged  Tomb  of  the  Virgin,  which  was  con- 
firmed to  them  in  1757  by  a  new  firman  from  Constantinople, 
the  Greeks  took  possession  of  it  two  years  later.  Their 
privileges  are  now  shared  among  all  rites  (Greeks,  Armenians, 
Copts,  Abyssinians,  and  Syrians,  even  Moslems),  except 
those  of  the  Latin  Church. 

The  Franciscans  have  also  lost  certain  rights  at  Beth- 
lehem, where  the  Greeks  alone  have  now  an  altar  on  the 
alleged  site  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  an  old  privilege 
of  saying  mass  once  a  year  in  two  Armenian  churches,  that 
of  St.  James  and  that  said  to  be  on  the  site  of  the  House  of 
Caiaphas.  They  have,  however,  within  late  years  restored 
and  again  utilized  certain  old  shrines,  such  as  the  Church  of 
the  Dominus  Floevit  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  the 
chapels  of  the  Flagellation  and  of  Bethphage. 

In  other  departments  of  their  mission  their  activity  has 
never  ceased.  They  afford  hospitality  for  a  period,  longer 
or  shorter  according  to  the  accommodation,  at  Jaffa,  Ramleh 
( Arimathea),  Jerusalem,  St.  John  in  the  Mountains,  Bethle- 
hem, Nazareth,  Qoubebeh  (the  alleged  Emmaus),  Mount 
Tabor,  and  Tiberias. 

In  the  department  of  education  for  their  Order  they  are 
especially  active,  and  receive  novices  from  every  part  of 
Europe  and  from  America,  both  north  and  south.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  central  house  in  Jerusalem  there  is  a  special  novi- 
tiate at  Nazareth,  from  which  the  young  students  are  sent 
out  to  study,  in  succession,  the  humanities  at  St.  John's, 
philosophy  at  Bethlehem  and  theology  at  St.  Saviour's. 

They  make  no  encroachments  upon  the  work  of  other 

150 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

churches,  but  their  missionary  influence  is  reinforced  by  an 
extensive  and  highly  organized  philanthropy.  They  have 
doctors  and  dispensaries  in  all  directions,  orphanages  for 
boys  and  girls,  schools,  both  primary  and  secondary,  for 
both  sexes  ;  technical  schools  of  almost  every  trade,  in  which 
steam-power  is  utilized  as  well  as  hand- work,  and  large  print- 
ing and  bookbinding  establishments.  They  have  also  a  very 
large  number  of  houses  and  apartments  which  are  assigned 
to  the  use  of  widows  and  the  indigent  poor,  and  their  daily 
distribution  of  food  is  said  to  amount  to  over  1,000  Ib.  in 
weight. 

It  would  be  a  very  easy  task  to  criticize  these  charities, 
and  to  say  that  the  poor  of  Jerusalem  are  pauperized,  that 
they  have  become  ungrateful,  and  receive  benefits  as  of  right, 
that  they  are  idle,  and  will  often  refuse  work  when  they  can 
get  it,  which  is  all  true  enough,  though  not  wholly  peculiar 
to  Jerusalem.  Undoubtedly,  in  that  they  are  far  the  largest 
donors  the  Franciscans  are  mainly  responsible  for  this,  but 
it  should  be  remembered  that  it  would  have  been  easier  for 
others  to  withhold  the  large  amount  of  superfluous  charity 
lately  added  to  the  already  existing  benefits  of  the  friars, 
than  for  them  to  subtract  the  bounties,  undoubtedly  far  too 
liberal,  which  have  for  so  long  existed.  I  have  discussed  the 
matter  with  many  among  them,  and  have  heard  them  deplore 
it  in  terms  quite  as  unqualified  as  the  most  modern  econo 
mists  could  desire.  There  are,  however,  many  difficulties 
which  time  alone  can  surmount.  Many  benefactions  were 
founded  in  the  days  when  to  become  a  Christian  was  liter- 
ally to  "  leave  all,"  and  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
supply  a  convert  with  shelter,  food,  and,  above  all,  protec- 
tion. Such  a  claim  has  hi  some  cases  become  hereditary, 
or  funds,  centuries  ago  dedicated  to  this  purpose,  cannot  well 
be  diverted,  or  recent  efforts  to  re-appropriate  gifts  have 
been  misrepresented  in  the  various  countries  where  they 
originated.  Possibly  some  weight  may  even  attach  to  the 

trend  of  circumstances  such  as  they  were  indicated  by 

151 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

a  well  dressed  woman  of  middle  age,  speaking  more  or 
less  four  languages,  and  apparently  in  excellent  health,  who 
however  came  to  us  to  beg  for  assistance.  We  offered  her 
manual  work,  well  paid,  which,  however,  she  declined  on 
the  plea  that  "  her  stomach  was  fatigued."  At  the  outset 
of  our  interview  she  inquired,  for  obvious  reasons,  to  what 
confession  we  belonged,  and  proceeded  to  inform  us  that 
during  many  years  of  weak  health  she  had  received  help 
from  the  Franciscans,  that  they  now  helped  her  no  more, 
nor  did  the  Armenians,  and  that  she  had  since  seen  that 
Protestantism  was  the  only  true  faith  ;  in  proof  of  which 
she  presented  us  with  a  manuscript  copy  of  Rock  of  Ages, 
for  which  she  expected  to  receive  a  franc.  Later,  somewhat 
dissatisfied  with  our  interview,  she  retired,  expressing  dis- 
gust at  the  insincerity  of  Franks,  and  exclaiming,  "I  go 
Greek  !  "  There  would  be  some  dozen  or  so  of  sects  for  her 
to  fall  back  upon  after  that,  with  a  variety  of  "  cranks  "  for 
ultimate  resort. 

The  Franciscan,  with  his  brown  frock  and  white  cord,  his 
capuch,  his  sandals,  the  white  umbrella  over  his  defenceless 
head,  is,  so  to  speak,  rooted  in  the  soil  of  Jerusalem,  a  part  of 
the  life,  even  of  the  very  landscape.  The  Order  is  largely 
Italian,  though  theoretically  international ;  the  custode 
must  always  be  an  Italian,  the  vicaire  a  Frenchman,  the 
procurator  a  Spaniard.  The  Spaniards  have  been  for  cen- 
turies large  benefactors  to  Jerusalem,  seeking,  it  may  be,  to 
atone  by  money  gifts  for  the  fact  that  they  alone  of  all 
European  nations  took  no  part  in  the  Crusades.  When,  on 
occasions  of  great  ceremony,  gorgeous  vestments  and  em- 
broideries are  donned  in  the  processions  at  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  it  is  quite  an  interesting  lesson  in 
heraldry  to  study  the  coats-of-arms  of  the  donors  em- 
broidered at  the  foot,  and  to  notice  how  large  a  proportion 
are  Spanish  and  Austrian.  Lamartine  estimated  the  gifts 
of  Europe  to  the  Jerusalem  Franciscans  as  amounting  to 
£15,000  per  annum,  a  sum  exceeded,  it  is  said,  during  the 

152 


YIK\V  OK  TIU-:  TEMPI. E  AREA  (LOOKING  SOUTH). 


LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM 

last  year  by  France,  "  infidel  France,"  alone.1  A  part  of 
their  possession  is,  from  time  to  time,  invested  in  real  estate, 
their  property  in  Jerusalem  and  the  neighbourhood  being 
larger  than  is  generally  known,  a  fact  which  affords  some 
security  to  their  position  as  guardians  of  the  Holy  Places — 
custodians  only,  it  should  be  remembered,  the  Sultan  being 
in  many  instances  the  proprietor. 

1  Laurence  Oliphant  has  some  forcible  remarks  on  this  point. 
"  The  French  Government,  which  has  been  ejecting  monks  and  nuns 
and  closing  religious  establishments  and  making  laws  against  reli- 
gious instruction  in  France,  is  very  particular  about  the  religious 
principles  of  its  representatives  in  Syria  ;  as  a  member  of  the 
French  Government  recently  remarked,  '  Religion  is  only  useful  as  an 
article  of  export.  ...  It  is  by  the  manufacture  and  protection  of 
Holy  Places  that  republican  France  extends  and  consolidates  her 
influence  in  these  parts.' "  (Haifa,  p.  55,  et  ante,) 


153 


CHAPTER  X 
THE   LATINS  IN  JERUSALEM   TO-DAY 

REVIVAL  OF  PATEIAKCHATE  —  ADVENT  OF  RELIGIOUS 
ORDERS — THEIR  INDUSTRIES — DOMINICAN  LECTURES 
— "  REVUE  BIBLIQUE  " — PILGRIMAGES — EDUCATIONAL 
ADVANTAGES  —  UNIATS  —  VISIBLE  "  COMMUNION  OF 
SAINTS  " 

THE  modern  history  of  the  Latins  in  Jerusalem  dates 
from  the  revival  of  the  patriarchate  in  1847. 
Founded  originally  at  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  in  451, 
powerful,  as  we  have  seen,  during  the  Prankish  kingdom, 
with  seigneury  conterminous  with  that  of  the  King  himself, 
the  office  fell  into  abeyance  with  the  dissolution  of  the 
Christian  Government,  and  the  last  remnants  of  his  authority 
and  dignity  passed  ultimately  into  the  hands  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan Custode.  He  it  was  who,  according  to  Lady  Hester 
Stanhope,  continued,  even  in  her  time,  the  right  of  granting 
licences  carrying  special  advantages  and  exemptions  to 
vessels  trading  in  the  Levant,  and  bearing  the  Jerusalem 
flag  of  five  crosses,  red  on  a  white  field,  on  the  theory  that 
they  were  carrying  goods  for  convents — the  possible  origin 
of  the  free  or  reduced  passages  still  given  by  certain  lines 
of  steamships  to  the  religious  of  Jerusalem.  He  it  was 
who  exercised  all  episcopal  functions,  and  who  issued 
licences  for  the  power  of  absolution.  It  is,  however,  alleged 
that  even  he,  as  well  as  all  other  foreigners  in  Jerusalem 
(there  were  no  consuls  in  those  days),  was  obliged  to  begin 

154 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM   TO-DAY 

every  authoritative  document  with  the  formula,  "  There 
is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His  prophet !  " 

The  first  patriarch  was  Joseph  Valerga,  a  Piedmontese, 
and  a  man  said  to  possess  especial  talents  of  organization. 
An  English  consul  had  been  appointed  during  the  Egyptian 
occupation  nine  years  before,  and  a  French  envoy  had 
arrived  in  1841,  although  France  had  long  practically 
possessed  a  representative,  for  Maundrell,  in  1697,  speaks  of 
the  French  consul  at  Sidon  as  having  the  title  of  Consul 
of  Jerusalem.1  During  the  same  year,  Sardinia  sent  a 
representative  of  the  titular  king  of  Jerusalem,  who,  when 
that  dignity  came  to  an  end  in  1849,  was  succeeded  by  an 
Italian  consul.  By  a  very  ancient  understanding,  France 
was  regarded  as  the  protector  of  all  Latins  in  Jerusalem, 
although  there  has  been  a  recent  movement  on  the  part  of 
Italy  and  of  Germany,  to  relieve  her  of  the  charge  of  their 
own  subjects.  Finn 2  tells  a  story,  of  which,  however,  I  can 
hear  nothing  elsewhere,  that  in  1847  the  Franciscans, 
enraged  at  the  apathy  of  the  French  consul  as  to  the 
abstraction  by  the  Greeks  of  their  silver  star  from  the  altar 
at  Bethlehem,  threatened  to  place  themselves  under  Turkish 
rule,  to  register  at  the  British  Consulate,  and  to  let  all 
Europe  know  the  reason  why.  (Cf.  infra.  176,  "  Martyr- 
dom in  Jerusalem  "). 

To  forget  the  part  which  France  has  played  in  Jerusalem 

1  Maundrell  adds  that  the  consul  "  is  obliged   by  his  master,  the 
King  of  France,  to  make  a  visit  to  the  Holy  City  every  Easter  under 
pretence  of  preserving  the  sanctuary  there  from  the  violations,  and 
the  friars,  who  have  the  custody  of  it,  from  the  exactions  of  the 
Turks."     He  further  describes  how   he  himself  accompanied   him, 
and  went  to  "  the  Latin  Convent,  at  which  all  Frank  pilgrims  are 
wont  to  be  entertained.     The  guardians  and  friars  received  us  with 
many  kind  welcomes."     He  further  relates  that,  owing  to  the  inter- 
vention of  France,  and  "  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  capitulation 
made  in  the  year  1673,  "  the  Holy  Sepulchre  had,  since  1690,  been 
appropriated  to  the  Latins,"  though  it  be  permitted  to  all  Christians, 
of  all  nations,  to  go  into  it  for  their  private  devotions." 

2  Finn,  Stirring  Times,  vol.  i. 

155 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

on  behalf  of  Christendom  would,  however,  be  ungrateful 
indeed.  Not  to  speak  of  the  initiation  of  Occidental 
Christianity  in  Palestine,  one  may  almost  say 
that  the  history  of  the  Crusades  and  of  the  Christian 
kingdom  is,  in  a  great  degree,  the  history  of  France. 
As  soon  as  Christianity  again  became  a  power  in  Jerusalem, 
we  find  France  exercising  her  influence  on  behalf  of  the 
injured.  It  was  by  the  interference  of  Francis  I.  that  the 
Franciscans  were  released  from  imprisonment  in  the  Tower 
of  David,  by  order  of  Soliman,  in  1537,  and  by  the  action 
of  the  French  Ambassador  in  Constantinople  that  they 
were  restored  to  their  rights  in  the  Church  of  the  Tomb  of 
the  Virgin,  originally  bought  from  the  Sultan,  and  usurped 
by  the  Greeks  in  1666. 

The  interference  of  Louis  XIV  in  1673  resulted  in  a  treaty 
with  the  Porte,  which  officially  recognizes  France  as  pro- 
tectress of  the  Holy  Places  and  of  their  Guardians,  and  which, 
moreover,  in  its  thirty- third  article,  expressly  declares  that 
"  the  Franciscans  shall  be  henceforth  respected  in  the  posses- 
sion of  all  their  sanctuaries,  both  within  and  outside  of 
Jerusalem,"  a  right  which  was  so  far  understood  that  when, 
three  years  later,  the  Greeks  contrived  to  possess  themselves 
of  other  sanctuaries,  they  were  at  once  restored  to  their 
owners  upon  the  requisition  of  France.  A  firman,  obtained 
by  the  Count  of  Vergennes,  Ambassador  of  France,  in  1757, 
renewed  the  formal  concession  of  the  claim  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans to  rights  over  the  principal  sanctuaries  of  Jerusalem.1 

In  1808,  after  the  partial  destruction  by  fire  of  the  chapel 
covering  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  Greeks  obtained  permission 
to  restore  what  was  necessary,  but  the  alterations  for  which 
they  made  this  the  pretext  were  the  occasion  of  much 
heart-burning  among  the  Franciscans  and  others  ;  and, 

1  A  succession  of  victories  over  Moslem  troops  by  the  Emperor 
Leopold  I  of  Austria  in  1699  led  to  a  further  understanding  with  the 
Porte,  and  on  the  part  of  Austria,  that  the  Franciscans  were  not  to 
be  disturbed  in  their  possession  of  the  Sanctuaries. 

156 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM    TO-DAY 

accordingly,  when  the  rebuilding  of  the  cupola  became 
necessary  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  French 
Ambassador,  Lavalette,  in  bringing  the  matter  before  the 
Porte,  took  occasion  to  obtain  a  formal  agreement  known 
as  the  statu  quo  ante,  confirming  the  Latins  in  all  the  rights 
which  they  held  at  the  time  of  the  interference  of  the  Sultan 
on  their  behalf  in  1740,  and  at  that  of  the  firman  of  rights 
granted  to  France  in  1757.  This  is  now  the  basis  of  all 
negotiation  with  the  Porte  on  the  subject  of  Latin  rights 
in  Jerusalem.  It  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere  that  the 
question  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  cupola  of  the  church  led, 
indirectly,  to  the  Crimean  war,  and  that  the  restoration  of 
the  roof  was  finally  diplomatically  achieved  by  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  France,  Russia,  and  Turkey.  Three  empires 
availed  no  more  with  the  local  plumber  than  does  the 
average  housekeeper  ;  the  roof  has  ceased  to  be  weather- 
tight,  and  is  in  sad  need  of  interior  decoration.  Let  us 
hope  it  may  be  arranged  without  an  international  war, 
and  before  the  marble  chapel  which  it  shelters  (built  by 
the  Greeks,  and  singularly  ugly)  shall  have  further  suffered 
from  the  early  and  the  latter  rains. 

After  a  digression  (which  international  courtesy  ap- 
peared to  demand)  we  may  return  to  the  consideration  of 
the  new  life  introduced  into  the  Holy  City  by  the  new 
activities  of  the  revived  Patriarchate.  The  Patriarch  has 
jurisdiction  over  all  Palestine  and  Cyprus,  and  he  visits 
every  parish  in  his  diocese  every  three  years,  either  per- 
sonally or  by  proxy  of  his  coadjutor,  who  is  titular  Bishop 
of  Capitolia,  in  Decapolis.  The  most  important  institution 
directly  connected  with  the  Patriarchate  is  a  large  seminary 
for  native  youths,  which,  though  not  necessarily,  prepares 
for  the  secular  priesthood,  especially  with  a  view  to  provide 
acceptable  parish  priests  for  remote  districts,  east  of  the 
Jordan,  in  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  or  the  remote  plateaux 
of  Moab.  It  is  interesting,  in  view  of  the  quality  of  the 
singing  in  churches  where  the  choir  is  drawn  from  the 

157 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

native  schools,  to  note  that  special  attention  is  given,  as 
by  the  Russians,  to  music,  with  encouraging  results,  demon- 
strating that  the  pain  inflicted  upon  Europeans  by  native 
parish  choirs  is  not  inevitable. 

The  arrival  of  the  Patriarch  was  followed,  within  the 
century,  by  that  of  twenty-five  religious  Orders,  of  whom 
eighteen  are  resident  in  Jerusalem.  Three  of  these  are 
contemplative  Sisterhoods,  the  Carmelites,  Clarisses,  and 
Reparatrices  ;  two  are  here  primarily  for  their  own  study, 
the  Dominicans  and  Assumptionists,  though  incidentally 
doing  valuable  work  for  the  public  good  ;  while  the  remain- 
ing thirteen  are  occupied  in  various  forms  of  philanthropy. 
The  work  of  the  Christian  Brothers  is,  as  elsewhere,  edu- 
cational ;  the  Sisters  and  Fathers  of  Notre  Dame  de  Sion 1 
were  founded  for  work  among  the  Jews ;  the  "  White 
Fathers  "  have  a  training  school  for  natives,  and  themselves 
wear  the  tarbush  and  white  burnous  of  the  country.  They 
have  also  a  school  of  music,  and  Jerusalem  owes  much  to 
their  excellent  band.  They  are  a  society  of  united  Greeks 
founded  by  Cardinal  Lavigerie,  and  doing  valuable  work 
as  missionaries,  mainly  in  Africa.  The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
and  of  St.  Francis  are  occupied  mainly  with  parochial 
schools  and  female  orphanages,  the  Sisters  of  the  Rosary, 
themselves  mainly  Syrians,  with  the  education  of  native 
girls  ;  the  Sisters  of  St.  Charles  and  the  Lazarist  Fathers 
have  schools,  dispensaries,  orphanages,  and  a  hospice  for 
the  German  element  in  the  population  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  Benedictine  Convents  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  have 
also  schools  and  orphanages  for  the  outside  villages.  The 

1  This  unique  Order  was  founded  by  Ratisbonne,  himself  a  Jew 
who  died  in  1884.  The  Society  numbers  about  1,000  members,  and 
has  Houses  in  England,  Paris,  and  America.  There  are  about 
eighty  orphans,  in  addition  to  Technical  Schools  and  a  Seminary 
for  students,  at  St.  Peter's  in  Jerusalem,  about  100  girls  in  the  school 
at  the  Ecce  Homo  Convent,  and  100  more  at  St.  John's.  The  sisters 
have  also  a  dispensary  for  Jews.  The  schools  are  not  entirely  Jewish. 
Some  of  those  "  professed  "  are  of  Jewish  parentage. 

158 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM    TO-DAY 

Freres  de  S.  Jean  de  Dieu,  though  perhaps  their  institution, 
with  its  hospital  and  dispensaries  at  Tantour,  are  nearer  to 
Bethlehem  than  to  Jerusalem,  are  too  valuable  to  escape 
mention.  Before  the  admirable  American  and  Scotch 
medical  missions  had  reached  Syria — ever  since  1879 — they 
have  been  doing  just  that  work  which  is  best  calculated  to 
commend  the  Christian  teaching  to  the  Arab  mind  ;  a  little 
band  of  qualified  medical  men,  dispensers,  and  nurses — one 
physician  and  one  surgeon  at  least  among  them  being  men 
of  high  eminence — who  have  given  up  distinguished  positions 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  poor,  in  a  country 
where  medical  work  of  a  high  class  is  sorely  needed.  They 
receive  patients  of  any  creed  or  nationality,  or  visit  them 
in  their  own  homes  ;  they  have  a  surgery  and  dispensary 
at  Bethlehem,  and  are  often  to  be  seen  as  consultants  in 
Jerusalem.  They  have  no  arriere  pensee  of  conversion, 
and  no  subscription  lists. 

There  is  one  other  Order  whose  philanthropy  deserves 
especial  mention,  that  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 
Surely  never  was  such  varied  misery  relieved  under  one 
roof !  Their  buildings,  though  vast,  are  quite  inadequate 
to  their  purpose.  The  Sisters  themselves  have  no  separate 
cells,  but  are  housed,  like  their  patients,  in  dormitories.  Their 
chapel  is  almost  bare  ;  all  that  can  be  spared  from  the  merest 
necessities  of  life  is  spent  upon  others.  Under  that  kindly 
roof  we  find  orphanages  for  boys  and  girls,  an  asylum  for 
the  aged  and  bedridden,  for  the  blind,  the  crippled,  the 
deformed,  the  mentally  afflicted  (neglected  by  all  other 
Christian  societies  in  Jerusalem,1  cared  for  by  Jews  and 
Moslems  only,  and  by  the  latter  with  no  appliances  of  science, 
barely  of  civilization).  Here,  too,  we  find  a  creche,  a  refuge 
for  foundlings,  children  often  literally  cast  out,  some  of  whom 
have  been  found  mangled  by  pariah-dogs.  All  creeds,  all 

1  Except  in  so  far  as  Jerusalem  patients  may  find  their  way  to 
the  Asylum  of  Waldemie;-,  a  German-Swiss  whose  unique  and  beau- 
tiful institution  is  supported  mainly  by  Scotland  and  America. 

159 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

nationalities,  both  sexes,  are  welcomed,  the  only  condition 
being  that  of  misery  too  great  for  admission  elsewhere.  All 
who  are  in  any  degree  capable  are  employed  ;  shoemaking, 
weaving,  tailoring,  carpentry,  lace-making,  laundry  work, 
knitting,  mending,  dressmaking,  embroidery,  all  are  done 
and  are  done  well.  The  blind  learn  to  read  and  write,  as 
well  as  various  crafts,  and  have  also  quite  an  effective  band. 
Here  a  boy  with  no  arms  and  a  crippled  foot  is  doing  a 
sum  in  fractions  with  his  remaining  member,  the  working 
of  which  is  neat,  legible,  and  correct ;  there  a  half-witted 
lad  is  serving  as  eyes  to  the  blind,  a  second  nature  with 
him,  for  his  crippled  frame  was  bent  out  of  human  likeness 
from  his  having  led  during  all  the  years  of  his  growth  an 
animal  existence  at  the  hands  of  his  father,  a  beggar,  blind 
and  lame,  who  dragged  himself  about  by  means  of  leaning 
on  the  child's  shoulders,  which,  even  as  he  grew  taller,  the 
father  compelled  him  to  maintain  at  the  low  level  con- 
venient to  himself.  Here,  in  a  bright  airy  work-room,  a 
number  of  girls,  directed  by  a  couple  of  Sisters,  are  making 
fashionable  dresses  for  the  ladies  of  Jerusalem,  silk  shirts 
for  Moslem  effendis,  delicate  fabrications  of  lace  and  tucks 
for  Christian  babies.  And,  as  if  the  maintenance  and 
clothing  of  so  large  a  family  were  not  enough  responsibility 
for  the  good  Sisters,  yonder  are  great  stacks  of  useful  gar- 
ments for  the  outside  poor,  the  results  of  the  industry  of  a 
working-party  of  native  Jerusalem  ladies  organized  and 
directed  by  the  Sisters.  Elsewhere,  as  has  been  shown, 
other  daughters  of  this  great  household  are  tending  the 
Government  hospital  for  Moslems,  nursing  the  prisoners, 
ministering  to  the  lepers.  And  everywhere  one  sees  bright 
and  happy  faces,  and  evidences  of  good  health. 

A  special  word  of  gratitude  from  the  outside  public 
should  be  said  for  the  work  of  the  Dominicans,  whose 
presence  in  the  Holy  Land,  directly  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  the  Bible  in  its  own  land  and  in  its  own  languages, 
is  indirectly  a  boon  to  all  students  in  Jerusalem,  the  general 

160 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM   TO-DAY 

public  being  admitted  every  winter  without  condition  (and 
without  payment)  to  the  weekly  lectures,  by  specialists,  on 
subjects  of  local  interest.  Students  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Holy  Land  are  also  indebted  to  them  for  their  monthly 
publication,  the  Remie  Biblique,  which,  in  respect  of 
illustrations  and  maps,  and  often  in  the  interest  of  its 
articles,  perhaps  excels  any  other  journal  of  current 
Palestinian  inquiry. 

About  twenty  years  ago  the  Augustinians  of  the  Assump- 
tion, among  whose  many  good  works  that  of  facilitating 
pilgrimages  has  a  prominent  place,  conceived  the  idea  of 
conducting  a  pilgrimage  of  penitence  to  the  Holy  Land.  In 
those  days  hotels  were  few,  the  Franciscans  possessed  the 
only  hospice  generally  available,  the  conveniences  of  travel 
were  less  even  than  now,  and,  although  both  Pius  IX  and 
Leo  XIII  had  encouraged  the  project,  it  appeared  to  many 
to  be  a  scheme  very  difficult  of  practical  realization  on  any 
large  scale.  Even  Church  room  seemed  to  be  insufficient 
for  any  considerable  number  of  worshippers,  the  new 
Churches  of  St.  Saviour,  of  St.  Anne,  of  the  Ecce  Homo,  of 
the  united  Armenians  and  Greeks,  of  the  Sceurs  de  Saint 
Joseph,  and  of  the  Reparatrices — to  speak  only  of  Jerusalem 
—were  not  yet  built ;  there  was  no  railway,  the  roads  to 
Jericho,  to  St.  John's  (Ain  Karim),  to  Ramallah,  were  not 
yet  made.  Nevertheless,  the  pilgrims  came,  to  the  number 
of  over  a  thousand.  The  next  year  more  were  again  found 
to  brave  an  exceptionally  difficult  journey.  The  occasion 
is  remembered  as  "  the  pilgrimage  of  storms."  Their 
arrival  was  delayed  till  Jerusalem  was  crowded  with  Easter 
visitors  ;  the  Franciscans  could  receive  but  seventeen  of 
the  400  additional  guests.  In  1884  the  organization  was 
more  complete,  the  success  was  incontestable,  and,  at  the 
disinterested  suggestion  of  a  Franciscan,  the  pilgrims 
taxed  themselves  to  the  amount  of  80,000  francs  (£3,200) 
for  the  purchase  of  the  estate  now  known  as  that  of  Notre 
Dame  de  France,  the  immense  hostelry  capable  of  receiving 

161  M 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

500  guests.  In  1888  it  was  ready  for  use  ;  in  1889  the 
chapel  was  begun,  and  the  pilgrimages  have  continued 
to  increase  every  year  in  numbers  and  in  devotion.  The 
arrangements,  both  for  those  who  come  direct  from  Jaffa 
to  Jerusalem,  and  for  those  who,  landing  at  Beirut,  visit 
Damascus  and  ride  down  through  Galilee  and  Samaria, 
are  admirable  in  every  detail,  including  the  presence  of  a 
nurse  for  the  sick.  Each  pilgrimage  brings  a  cross,  often 
of  the  traditional  proportions,  which,  after  being  carried 
along  the  Via  Dolorosa,  is  conveyed  back  home  and  planted 
in  some  sacred  spot ;  among  others  have  been  Montmartre, 
Paray  le  Monial,  Lourdes,  and  St.  Michel.  In  1902  there 
were  two,  one  carried  by  priests,  the  other  by  laity. 

In  spite  of  the  multiplication  of  philanthropic  agencies, 
the  new  religious  Orders  in  Jerusalem  have,  happily,  not 
tended  to  the  subdivision  of  means  of  education  for  natives. 
There  are  special  schools  in  connexion  with  orphanages 
and  with  the  blind ;  there  are  the  technical  schools  at  the 
Convents  of  Ratisbonne  and  of  the  Sceurs  de  Charite,  and 
there  are  the  schools  of  the  Christian  Brothers  for  secondary 
education,  resorted  to  by  the  sons  of  tradesmen,  officials 
and  others,  of  all  creeds  and  nationalities.  But  the 
primary  parish  schools  remain,  as  they  have  always  done, 
in  the  hands  of  the  Franciscans.  They  have  made  a  difficult 
stand  on  behalf  of  education,  for  until  after  the  Crimean 
war  in  the  year  1858,  when  they  first  obtained  a  firman, 
their  work  was  carried  on  against  obstacles  which  at  times 
seemed  well-nigh  insurmountable.  But  the  Arab  has  a 
considerable  degree  of  intellectual  activity  of  a  certain 
kind  ; 1  they  never  lacked  pupils,  and  they  never  failed, 
on  the  establishment  of  a  convent,  at  once  to  open  a  school 
for  children  of  six  years  old  and  upwards,  who,  at  the  age 

1  The  Rev.  G.  E.  Post,  a  member  of  the  American  College  in 
Beirut  and  specially  conversant  with  the  Arab  temperament,  credits 
them  with  "  curiosity,  perceptivity,  memory,  versatility,  but  with 
little  judgment,  logic,  or  originality." 

162 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM   TO-DAY 

of  twelve,  had  the  opportunity  of  learning  a  trade  from  some 
master-workman,  Christian  or  Moslem.  In  1645  the 
Chapter-General  decided  that  the  children  were  to  be  further 
encouraged  to  study  by  a  mid-day  meal,  the  nature  of 
which  is  specified — mainly  vegetable  soups,  polenta,  rice, 
and  cheese.1  An  Italian  writer  2  of  the  year  1790  expresses 
his  surprise  at  finding  excellent  masons,  carpenters,  me- 
chanics, locksmiths,  and  furniture-makers  in  Jerusalem, 
a  fact  which  was  explained  by  the  training  received  in  the 
schools  of  the  Franciscans. 

A  few  years  before  the  first  grant  of  a  firman  we  find  3 
that  the  Friars  had  established  fifteen  schools  for  boys  and 
nine  for  girls  ;  that  among  the  teachers,  twenty-two  were 
religious  and  twenty  secular  ;  and  that  they  were  suitably 
provided  with  books,  maps,  and  furniture,  the  scholars 
numbering  1,278,  of  whom  446  were  girls.  The  report4  for 
1903,  enumerates  thirty-one  schools,  attended  by  2,680 
boys,  and  eleven  schools,  attended  by  700  girls.  These 
do  not  include  the  large  number  of  orphanages  which 
abound  in  all  directions,  especially  for  girls. 

No  account  of  Latin  Christianity  in  Jerusalem  would 
be  in  any  degree  complete  without  reference  to  those  con- 
fessions which  have  seceded  from  their  original  government 
and  have  submitted  themselves  to  that  of  the  Pope  ;  hence 
spoken  of  commonly  as  "  united."  The  united  Greeks,  or 
Melchites,  have  been  already  referred  to  as  the  royalists,  or 
King's  men,  who  submitted  in  451  to  the  edict  of  the 
Emperor  in  favour  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  when  the 
Syrians,  Copts,  and  Armenians  were  condemned.  Their 
Patriarch  takes  his  title  from  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and 

1  Elzear   Horn,    Locorum   etc.   veterum   Terrae  Sanctae,    1725-44, 
pp.  222-3,  ed.  1902. 

2  Marita  Istoria  dello  state  presente  di  Gerusalemme,  vol.  i.,  1790, 
p.  70. 

3  P.  Bassi,  Stato  delle  Missioni  di  Terra  Santa  nellanno  1851,  vol.  ii. 
p.  339. 

4  Status  descript.  Custodiae  Terrae,  Sanctae,  1903. 

163 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Damascus,  and  has  been  hitherto  represented  in  Jerusalem 
by  a  Vicar  ;  there  is,  however,  a  recent  rumour  of  the 
probable  appointment  of  a  Bishop.  They  retain  the 
Byzantine  rite,  recited  in  Arabic,  which  is  printed  parallel 
with  the  Greek.  They  possess  the  Chapel  of  the  Credo  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives  and  the  Chapel  of  St.  Veronica  at  the 
Sixth  Station  of  the  Cross,  as  well  as  the  College,  Church, 
and  Museum  known  as  St.  Anne's. 

The  united  Armenians  date  only  from  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  and  are  not  numerous.  They  are  in  the  care 
of  a  Vicar  Patriarchal,  and  possess  the  Church  which  marks 
the  fourth  station  of  the  Via  Dolorosa,  whose  unfinished 
condition — still  roofless  for  many  years,  although  on  the 
site  of  some  interesting  ruins  of  a  Benedictine  convent — 
strikes  the  visitor  as  somewhat  of  a  reproach  to  the  wealthier 
institutions  and  to  the  large  numbers  of  pilgrims  and 
"  religious  "  who  every  Friday  take  part  in  the  procession 
of  the  Via  Dolorosa.  The  united  Copts  are  quite  modern, 
and  are  very  few  in  number.  The  united  Abyssinians 
are  under  the  care  of  the  Lazarist  Fathers,  and  worship  at 
their  own  altar  in  the  Church  of  the  Patriarchate.  The 
united  Syrians,  who  date  only  from  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  have  their  own  Vicar-Patriarchal,  and 
are  about  to  build  a  church  and  hospice  for  themselves 
near  the  Damascus  Gate  outside  the  walls  of  the  city. 

The  Maronites,  said  to  be  the  most  latinized  of  all  the 
uniats,  are  not  largely  represented  in  Jerusalem,  although 
it  is  said  that  there  are  some  200,000  of  them,  mainly  in 
Syria.  Their  churches,  vestments  and  ritual  are  practically 
undistinguishable  from  those  of  Rome,  but  they  have  their 
own  Patriarch  and  their  own  customs  as  to  the  marriage 
of  the  inferior  clergy,  and  other  points.  They  are  to  be 
found  mainly  in  the  Lebanon  district,  where  they  serve, 
from  the  student's  point  of  view,  the  valuable  purpose  of 
keeping  alive  the  Syrian  or  Aramaic  language  ;  though 
often  their  announcements,  church  notices,  etc.,  may  be 

164 


THE    LATINS    IN   JERUSALEM    TO-DAY 

found  actually  in  the  Arabic  tongue,  although  written  in 
the  Syrian  alphabet  !  They  became  fully  united  with 
Rome  in  1600,  but  their  Patriarch  was  present  at  the 
General  Council  of  the  Lateran  as  long  ago  as  1216,  under 
Innocent  III.  They  are  protected  by  the  French,  but 
were,  nevertheless,  cruelly  massacred  by  the  Druses  in  1860 
to  the  number,  it  is  said,  of  about  10,000.  Even  to  the 
present  time,  their  convents  and  churches  resemble  for- 
tresses rather  than  the  peaceful  homes  of  ecclesiastics. 
They  have  shown  some  literary  interest,  have  had  since 
1584  a  college  in  Rome,  and  the  work  of  their  author 
Assemarni  on  oriental  subjects  was  recognized  by  Gibbon 
as  a  classic. 

Once  a  year,  in  the  church  belonging  to  the  superb 
convent  of  the  Reparatrices,  one  may  assist,  during  nine 
days  before  the  carnival,  at  the  unique  occasion  profanely 
and  locally  known  as  "  the  Carnival  of  the  Rites."  This  Order, 
whose  business  it  is  to  pray  for  those  who  do  not  pray  for 
themselves,  then  collects  together  representatives  of  the 
whole  of  Roman  Catholic  Jerusalem,  of  every  rite,  nation- 
ality, and  Order,  to  pray  for  those  who  may  be  specially 
tempted  at  the  Carnival  ;  and  it  is  an  opportunity  not  to 
be  had  elsewhere  of  studying  liturgical  variations.  The 
Mass  is  said  according  to  every  rite,  six  in  all,  sermons  are 
preached  in  at  least  half-a-dozen  languages,  the  Orders 
come  on  different  days  with  their  choirs,  their  students, 
their  orphans,  their  cripples,  as  the  case  may  be.  Every 
patriarch,  every  bishop,  is  there  in  turn  ;  all  bring  their 
habitual  vestments,  customs,  uses.  Nowhere  else,  in  the 
world,  not  even  in  Rome,  is  there  a  similar  occasion. 

But  perhaps  the  scene  which  above  all  others  impresses 
one  most  with  the  actual  living  fact  of  the  Communion  of 
Saints,  is  that  which  presents  itself  daily  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  Franciscan  friar,  guardian  of  the  shrine, 
shares  his  responsibility  with  the  Greek,  whose  aged  Empress 
was  the  first  to  beautify  the  spot,  sixteen  centuries  ago. 

165 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

There  the  Syrian  worships  in  the  language  in  which  the 
Master  taught,  there,  the  gentle  Abyssinian,  silent  and 
restrained,  contrasts  vividly  with  the  Russian  pilgrim,  who 
has  walked  for  months,  it  may  be,  to  do  reverence  in  the 
Holy  City,  and  who  is  kissing  the  very  stones  in  a  passion 
of  adoration.  Here  we  note  the  Armenian,  proud  of  his 
religious  descent  from  the  earliest  Christian  pilgrims  to  the 
Holy  Land,  there  the  swarthy  Copt,  there  the  Maronite, 
faithful  under  the  most  appalling  religious  persecution  of 
modern  times,  and  here  the  St.  Thomas  Christian  from 
India,  partner  with  the  Syrian  in  his  humble  share  of  the 
holy  shrine  ;  while  even  the  Moslem,  while  denying  the  fact 
of  His  death  and  resurrection,  is  yet  respectful  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Master.  The  scene  is  one  which  testifies 
to  the  homogeneousness  of  Christendom,1  or  to  its  unhappy 
divisions,  according  to  the  point  of  view.  One  may  be 
conscious  of  differences  of  creed,  or  of  a  common  love  for 
the  risen  Lord ;  one  may  note  fanaticism,  superstition, 
savagery,  or  one  may  remember  the  dictum,  "in  essentials 
unity,  in  non-essentials  liberty,  in  all  things  charity."  He 
is  not  here,  He  is  risen,  but  man,  His  servant,  made  in  His 
likeness,  even  the  least  of  these  His  brethren,  remains,  and 
his  presence  is  evidence  of  the  persistence,  in  spite  of  all 
disenchantment,  all  disappointment,  of  the  hope  that 
remaineth,  of  our  common  brotherhood,  our  common 
sonship. 

1  "  Catholicism  does  not  obliterate  or  absorb  national  character, 
it  consecrates  it ;  and  conversely  each  national  character  grasps  a 
special  aspect  of  the  Catholic  faith,  which  it  is  its  vocation  to  guard." 
(Biggs,  Six  months  in  Jerusalem,  p.  336.)  "Do  not  these  very  divi- 
sions afford  an  indirect  illustration  of  the  extraordinary  vitality  of 
the  new  kingdom  ?  "  (Liddon,  Divinity  of  our  Lord,  p.  124.) 


166 


CHAPTER  XI 
MARTYRDOM   IN  JERUSALEM 

SIGNIFICANCE  OP  APPARENTLY  UNIMPORTANT  DETAILS — 
MUTUAL  RELATION  OF  GREEKS  AND  LATINS — GREEK 
PROMISES — THE  PASHA'S  DECISION — NEXT  MORNING'S 
INCIDENTS — THE  PASHA  AND  THE  FRENCH  REPRE- 
SENTATIVE —  EVENTS  OF  NOVEMBER  4  —  PUBLIC 
FEELING — "  ABSOLUTE  REPARATION  " — SENTENCES- 
EPISODES — HISTORY  REPEATS  ITSELF 

"  There  are  three  kinds  of  martyrdom ;  the  first  both  in  will 
and  deed,  which  is  the  highest ;  the  second,  in  will  but  not  in 
deed ;  the  third,  in  deed  but  not  in  will." — WHEATLEY. 

THOSE  who  have  acquainted  themselves  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  events  which  occurred  in  the  courtyard 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  November  of  the 
year  1901,  must  feel  that  the  title,  borne  by  the  Franciscans, 
of  Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places,  is  not  an  empty  one. 
Again  and  again  have  they  signed  with  their  blood  the 
deed  of  entail  which  conveys  this  proud  distinction. 

The  accounts  of  the  matter  which  have  been  published 
in  England,  in  all  cases  meagre,  have  been,  moreover,  so 
often  coloured  by  prejudice  and  party-feeling  that  I  think 
it  worth  while  to  describe  the  incident  with  some  detail,  as 
I  am  enabled  to  do  so  at  first  hand.  The  quotations  are 
throughout  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  Franciscans  of  the 
Convent  of  San  Salvador,  the  headquarters  of  the  Order  in 
the  Holy  Land. 

167 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

As  has  been  already  seen,  so  many  privileges,  so  much 
territory  has  been  wrested  from  the  Franciscans  by  force 
or  artifice  during  the  last  century,  that  the  duty  of 
zealously  preserving  what  remains  to  them  is,  as  Guar- 
dians of  the  Holy  Places,  all  the  more  rigidly  incumbent. 
The  large  square  common  to  Latins,  Greeks  and  Armenians 
in  front  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is,  however, 
surrounded  on  three  sides  by  buildings,  which,  with  the 
exception  of  one  small  Armenian  chapel,  are  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  The  only  share  now  left  to  the 
Franciscans  is  a  short  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  a  small 
chapel,  built  against  the  fagade  of  the  church  itself,  and 
which  it  is,  of  course,  their  duty  to  keep  clean,  sweeping 
the  steps  and  the  adjoining  stone-flagging  every  day,  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  order,  but,  as  is  the  local  custom,  in 
token  of  proprietorship,  a  duty  which  they  have  exercised 
from  time  immemorial. 

Towards  the  close  of  October  1901  the  sacristan  reported 
to  the  Gustos  of  the  Holy  Land,  that  the  Greeks  had 
interfered  with  his  work,  and  sought  to  hinder  its  exe- 
cution. It  was  at  first  supposed  that  the  interference  was 
merely  a  piece  of  fanaticism,  but  when  the  molestations 
were  daily  repeated,  fears  were  entertained  that  the  matter 
might  have  some  connexion  with  other  annoyances  of 
recent  occurrence,  and  that  what  seemed  separately  events 
of  small  importance,  might  in  the  aggregate  have  serious 
significance.  These  had  arisen  partly  out  of  some  discussion 
as  to  certain  repairs  which  the  Greeks  had  executed  during 
the  night  without  reference  to  the  joint  Latin  authority, 
and  partly  out  of  certain  other  repairs  and  alterations 
sanctioned  by  Greeks,  Latins  and  Armenians,  but  as  to 
which  the  Greeks  had  assumed  a  degree  of  authority  in 
excess  of  that  of  the  others.  The  matter  had,  however, 
been  to  all  appearance  amicably  settled,  and  the  Greek 
Guardian,  Euthymios,  acting  in  the  absence  of  his  Patriarch, 
had  made  suitable  excuses,  and  had  been  loud  in  professions 

168 


MARTYRDOM    IN    JERUSALEM 

of  friendship  even  so  lately  as  October  29,  when  he  made 
a  personal  call  upon  the  Gustos,  the  Custodial  Vicar,  Father 
Prosper  of  Marennes,  being  present.  He  professed  entire 
ignorance  as  to  the  matter  of  the  steps,  and  promised  that 
there  should  be  no  further  ground  for  complaint. 

When  the  interference  still  continued,  the  Gustos  sent  a 
dragoman  to  remind  him  of  his  promise,  and  received  a  reply 
in  a  somewhat  different  key  from  the  former,  to  the  effect 
that  he  would  look  into  the  matter  and  send  word  as  to  his 
decision.  On  the  evening  of  November  2  the  decision 
arrived,  to  the  effect  that  the  Greeks  would  certainly  pre- 
vent the  Franciscans  from  sweeping  the  flag-stones,  upon 
which  the  Gustos  at  once  communicated  with  the  Pasha, 
who  accordingly  ordered  that  two  policemen  should  be  in 
attendance  the  next  morning.  Their  presence,  though  it 
availed  to  protect  the  friars  from  actual  molestation,  would 
have  effected  little  against  the  fifty  or  more  Greeks,  who 
were  awaiting  any  excuse  for  creating  a  disturbance.  How- 
ever, the  Franciscans  showed  great  discretion,  swept  their 
steps,  made  a  dignified  protest  against  the  enemy's  hin- 
drance of  their  duty,  and  withdrew,  attended  by  their 
dragoman. 

The  Consul-General  of  France  was  unfortunately  absent 
from  Jerusalem,  but  his  ChanceUor  was  sent  for,  the  matter 
explained  to  him,  and  he  at  once  proceeded  to  the  Pasha, 
who  was  anxious  to  effect  a  compromise  on  the  subject  of 
the  sweeping,  which,  however,  the  Gustos  absolutely  de- 
clined. Meantime,  the  Greek  Guardian  had  sent  for  the 
Franciscan  dragoman,  who  was  permitted  to  visit  him,  but 
only  on  his  own  responsibility,  not  as  representing  the 
community  of  San  Salvador.  To  him  also  was  proposed 
a  like  policy  of  compromise.  I  give  the  Franciscan  argu- 
ment upon  the  subject  in  their  own  words. 

'  The  rejection  of  the  Pasha's  proposal  was  not  at  all 
unreasonable  on  the  part  of  the  Most  Rev.  Gustos.  How 
could  he  consent  to  accept  as  an  alms  from  the  Greeks  a 

169 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

portion  of  a  right  which  was  his  in  its  entirety  ?  Besides, 
as  every  one  knows,  the  rights,  whether  great  or  small, 
which  the  Gustos  and  his  Franciscan  confreres  maintain 
and  defend  at  the  Holy  Shrines  are  maintained  and  de- 
fended not  as  their  own  possession,  which  they  can  dispose 
of  at  will,  but  as  the  rights  and  property  of  the  Church  and 
the  whole  Catholic  world." 

The  day  ended  with  the  receipt  of  a  message  from  the 
Pasha  promising  to  support  the  Franciscans  in  the  exercise 
of  their  rights,  pending  further  inquiry. 

Next  morning  accordingly  the  friar-sacristan  set  about 
his  sweeping,  the  dragoman  and  a  priest  (who  had  just  said 
his  Mass  in  the  little  chapel  at  the  head  of  the  steps)  looking 
on.  A  crowd  of  Greeks  had  already  gathered  in  the  court, 
and  eight  or  ten  Greek  monks,  with  their  Vicar,  some 
carrying  brooms,  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  steps.  When 
they  reached  the  flag-stones  the  usual  molestation  began, 
in  spite  of  the  presence  of  a  Turkish  official  and  two 
policemen. 

"  The  two  Franciscans  and  their  dragoman  protested 
on  the  spot  against  the  unwarranted  interference,  appealing 
to  the  Pasha's  order,  which  guaranteed  them  the  right  to 
sweep  that  flagging.  But  the  Greeks  paid  no  regard  either 
to  the  Pasha's  order  or  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  two 
Franciscans.  The  Turkish  official  and  policemen  thereupon 
interfered.  .  .  .  When  the  Father  saw  how  things  stood, 
he  left  the  dragoman  there  to  prevent  the  Greeks  from 
sweeping  the  flagging,  as  they  had  already  tried  to  do,  and 
himself  hastened  to  report  the  occurrence  to  the  Gustos. 
Other  Franciscans  meanwhile,  who  had  been  engaged  in 
private  devotions  before  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  came  out  of 
the  Basilica  when  they  heard  the  commotion,  and  took 
their  stand  at  the  side  of  their  dragoman." 

The  Gustos  at  once  sent  his  Vicar  down  to  the  scene  of 
disturbance,  and  despatched  a  messenger  to  the  French 
Consulate,  who  returned  with  the  assurance  that  undoubtedly 

170 


MARTYRDOM    IN    JERUSALEM 

all  would  be  well  for  the  Franciscans.  Meanwhile,  the 
Pasha  sent  down  additional  police  and  some  soldiers,  with 
two  commandants,  one  of  the  military  and  one  of  the  police. 
The  Franciscans  also  were  reinforced  by  others  of  their 
community. 

"  Their  only  object  in  going  to  the  place  was  that  their 
presence  there  might  serve  as  a  quiet  but  positive  protest 
against  the  unlawful  aggression  of  their  Greek  neighbours. 
They  would  remain  here  in  the  face  of  all  danger,  until  the 
Pasha  either  made  good  his  promise  of  the  preceding  night 
or  sent  other  orders." 

Meantime,  the  crowd  of  Greeks  was  increasing  every 
moment.  When  from  time  to  time  dispersed  by  the  soldiers, 
great  numbers  disappeared  into  the  doorways  of  the  sur- 
rounding Greek  buildings,  whence  they  easily  gained  access 
to  the  roof  of  the  Basilica  and  Convent,  from  which  they 
looked  down  on  to  the  Franciscans  below,  sitting  quietly 
on  the  steps,  their  hands  in  their  sleeves,  confident  in  the 
assurances  of  protection  which,  for  the  third  time,  reached 
them  at  noon  from  the  representative  of  the  Protector  of 
Christianity  in  the  East. 

"  You  on  your  part  must  patiently  await  the  outcome 
of  the  event,"  wrote  the  French  representative.  "  You 
know  that  in  this  country  everything  is  done  slowly.  .  .  . 
Let  us  show  by  the  correctness  of  our  bearing  that  we  know 
how  to  await  the  hour  when  peace  will  be  restored.  Though 
absent,  I  am  occupied  with  and  watch  over  the  preservation 
of  your  interests." 

For  once,  however,  things  were  done  less  slowly  than 
usual  in  the  East.  While  the  defenceless  Franciscans 
"  showed  the  correctness  of  their  bearing,"  the  Greeks 
were  gathering  upon  the  flat  roofs  all  around,  even  within 
a  few  feet  of  them,  occupied  with  the  accumulation  of 
means  of  assault — piles  of  stones,  and  of  rags,  and  bottles 
of  petroleum. 

"  At  about  half-past  nine  the  number  of  Greek  monks 

171 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

had  increased  considerably.  Many  of  them  were  not 
monks  at  all,  but  well  known  brigands  disguised  as  monks 
to  take  part  in  the  wretched  work.  They  were  armed 
with  hatchets,  stilettoes,  daggers,  pistols  and  short  heavy 
clubs.  Many  unsheathed  daggers,  and  knives,  concealed 
with  little  care  by  those  who  generally  made  no  feint  to 
hide  such  weapons,  revealed  the  murderous  intent  of  the 
Greeks.  Even  pistols  glistened  among  the  ample  folds  of 
the  orthodox  Greek  habit." 

About  three  o'clock  the  Gustos  received  a  visit  from  the 
French  representative,  the  Vicar  being  present.  "  He 
came  to  speak  about  the  difficult  situation,  to  see  whether 
no  way  could  be  devised  for  the  Friars  "  (who  had  now  sat 
patiently  for  about  seven  hours  with  their  hands  in  their 
sleeves)  "  to  assert  their  rights  without  further  exposing 
themselves  to  danger." 

While  they  were  talking,  the  bells  of  the  Greek  Convent 
rang  out  an  ominous  tocsin.  A  friar  rushed  into  the 
room  announcing  that  the  assault  on  the  unarmed  Fran- 
ciscans had  begun,  followed  by  a  second  friar  with  the 
intelligence  that  a  number  of  them  were  lying — dead,  for 
all  that  any  one  knew — in  pools  of  their  own  blood.  The 
French  representative  now,  for  the  first  time,  directed  his 
steps  to  the  scene. 

"  The  first  act  of  open  hostility  was  committed  by  those 
on  the  terraces  above,  who  began  to  spit  on  the  Franciscans, 
seated  quietly  on  the  steps  before  their  chapel.  The  soldiers 
were  informed  of  this  indignity,  but  they  interfered  to  stop 
it  only  in  a  very  indifferent  manner.  At  the  same  moment 
the  Greek  monks  closed  in  and  took  possession  of  the  lower 
steps.  The  Franciscans  were  thus  pressed  within  narrow 
quarters,  which  made  it  easy  for  the  Greeks  to  stone  them 
altogether.  .  .  .  Since  the  forenoon  the  Greek  sacristan 
had  been  standing  ready  with  the  bell-rope  in  his  hand. 
He  now  rang  the  bells  as  a  signal  for  the  attack.  The 
Greeks  rushed  on  in  crowds — priests,  students,  church 

172 


MARTYRDOM    IN   JERUSALEM 

assistants  and  others.  .  .  .  From  the  terraces  stones  were 
uninterruptedly  rained  down  on  the  poor  friars.  Several 
of  them  were  struck,  and  fell  down  with  heads  laid  open. 
A  few  were  able  to  escape  into  the  chapel.  But  even  there 
they  were  not  safe  ;  for  the  Greeks,  denouncing  them  in 
opprobrious  terms,  continued  to  throw  stones  at  them 
through  the  window  which  faces  Mount  Calvary.  Those 
who  were  prevented  from  fleeing  into  the  chapel  were 
subjected  to  acts  of  the  greatest  cruelty.  ...  If  they 
attempted  to  escape  or  to  defend  themselves  as  well  as  they 
could  with  their  bare  hands,  they  were  dragged  among 
the  crowd  on  the  plaza,  where  they  were  beaten  with  clubs 
and  wounded  with  daggers,  knives,  and  hatchets.  .  .  . 
Some  venerable  old  brothers  who  came  out  of  the  Basilica 
were  thrown  to  the  ground  with  remorseless  cruelty,  wounded 
and  trampled  underfoot." 

"  All  save  the  Greeks  now  fled  from  this  indescribable 
scene  of  carnage  and  bloodshed.  Mohammedan  and  Latin 
women  shrieked  for  dread,  and  many  fainted  on  the  spot. 
But  the  Greek  women  who  thronged  the  terraces  did  not 
show  any  signs  of  terror.  Instead,  they  supplied  the  men 
with  stones  to  cast  down  on  the  Franciscans.  The  cheer 
which  the  Greeks  generally  employ  at  marriage  festivities 
resounded  on  all  sides.1  Meantime,  at  risk  of  his  life,  one 
of  the  friars  made  his  way  out  into  the  Sion  quarter  of  the 
city  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  additional  military  assist- 
ance. We  owe  thanks  to  God  that  these  soldiers  came 
as  early  as  they  did  ;  for  the  Greeks  on  the  terraces  were 
just  preparing  to  throw  their  burning  rags,  soaked  in 
petroleum,  on  the  wounded  friars  lying  below,  and  thus  to 
complete  by  fire  their  work  of  murderous  assault.  The 

1  This  is  the  special  and  characteristic  sound  of  joy  among  Ori- 
entals, made  by  a  rapid  vibration  of  the  tongue  against  the  teeth. 
It  would  sound  like  the  prolonged  whistle  which  a  street-boy  makes 
by  putting  his  fingers  into  his  mouth,  if  such  a  whistle  could  be  pro- 
duced with  a  tremolo. 

173 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

fact  that  the  friars  made  no  attempt  to  defend  themselves 
is  another  instance  of  God's  providential  care.  For,  if  they 
had  done  so,  we  have  the  testimony  of  well  informed  people 
for  the  assertion  that  the  Greeks  would  have  made  use  of 
their  pistols.  In  that  case  the  carnage  would  have  been  by 
far  more  frightful."  I  am  able  to  add,  on  good  authority, 
that  a  large  number  of  the  roughest  characters  of  the  city 
were  waiting,  ready  armed,  for  the  first  pistol-shot  to 
announce  that  the  worst  had  begun,  in  order  to  rush  in 
and  loot  the  precious  ornaments  of  the  Holy  Places. 

Fifteen  Franciscans  and  their  interpreter,  a  Syrian, 
were  carried,  all  severely,  some  dangerously  wounded,  into 
the  Convent.  The  list  of  then1  injuries,  signed  by  two 
prominent  Jerusalem  doctors,  a  Frenchman  and  an  Italian, 
as  well  as  by  the  physician  of  the  Municipality,  lies  before 
me,  and,  reading  over  the  horrible  details,  one  can  only 
marvel,  looking  back,  that  all  have,  by  the  mercy 
of  God,  survived,  though  there  are  many  whose  injuries 
will  be  felt  for  life.  The  honours  are,  as  to  nation- 
ality, widely  distributed.  Five  are  Italians,  two  Germans, 
one  French,  one  Spaniard,  one  Dutch,  two  Russian, 
three  Syrian,  and  one  —  let  us  feel  proud  of  the 
fact — English.  Three  were  priests.  One  of  the  most 
serious  cases  was  that  of  a  Russian,  who  had  doubtless 
been  made  the  subject  of  special  malice  in  consequence  of 
his  personal  history.  He  was  one  of  the  few  survivors 
from  one  of  the  frequent  shipwrecks  off  the  dangerous 
Jaffa  coast.  The  friars  of  the  Franciscan  Convent,  as  is 
their  wont,  received  and  tended  the  homeless  sufferers,  and, 
as  a  token  of  gratitude  to  God  for  his  deliverance,  he  ac- 
cepted the  Latin  creed,  and,  in  further  gratitude  to  his 
preservers,  became  one  of  their  number.  His  onerous 
work  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  where  the  conditions  of  life 
are  especially  uncomfortable  and  insanitary,  exposed  to 
the  daily  scorn  of  the  Greeks,  is  evidence,  if  evidence  were 
needed,  of  his  sincerity. 

174 


MARTYRDOM   IN   JERUSALEM 

Public  feeling  in  the  matter  was  strong.  The  Franciscans 
had  the  sympathy,  not  only  of  those  of  their  own  faith,  but 
of  even  the  Moslems,  who  loudly  expressed  their  regret  for 
the  sorrow  which  had  befallen  the  Brothers  of  the  Cord,  their 
name  for  the  Sons  of  St.  Francis. 

"  The  French  representative  shortly  visited  the  scene  of 
the  late  attack.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  address  the  Turkish 
officers  there  in  a  manner  that  did  honour  to  the  consular 
dignity  which  he  held.  Among  other  things  he  said  with 
fearlessness  and  vehemence  .  .  .  Reparation  must  abso- 
lutely be  made — absolutely" 

The  French  protectorate,  however,  practised  the  policy 
which  they  had  thrice  recommended  to  the  defenceless  friars, 
and  showed  "  by  the  correctness  of  their  bearing  that  they 
knew  how  to  wait." 

The  quotations  which  follow  are  from  a  communication 
sent  from  the  Convent  of  St.  Salvador  to  the  Commissariat 
of  the  Holy  Land  in  the  United  States,  under  date  June  3, 
seven  months  after  the  occurrence. 

"  Ever  since  the  events  of  November  4,  1901,  the  entire 
Catholic  world  is  looking  to  the  East,  asking  itself  the 
question  whether  to-day,  in  this  age  of  civilization,  atrocities 
such  as  have  been  committed  at  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  shall  go  unresented  and  unpunished.  How 
justifiable  this  question  is,  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that 
until  to-day  diplomatic  negotiations  have  not  shown  the 
slightest  result."  The  writer  proceeds  to  explain  that, 
from  motives  of  policy,  France  had  acted  throughout  in 
concert  with  Russia,  the  protector  of  the  Eastern,  as  France 
is  of  the  Western  Church  in  Jerusalem.  Russia  apparently 
had  suggested  that  a  call  of  apology  on  the  part  of  the 
Greek  Prefect  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  would  be,  under  the 
circumstances,  a  polite  attention,  but  the  Gustos,  still 
mourning  over  the  protracted  sufferings  of  his  sixteen 
wounded  sons,  did  not  consider  the  proposal,  as  "an  abso- 
lute reparation,"  adequate.  "  However,  the  matter  is  not 

175 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

yet  disposed  of,  and  negotiations  have  not  yet  been  brought 
to  their  final  conclusion.  When  the  German  and  Italian 
consuls  (having  seven  of  their  compatriots  among  the 
wounded)  saw  France's  indifference  in  obtaining  satisfaction 
for  the  flagrant  wrong  done  to  the  German  and  Italian 
Fathers  and  Brothers,  they  took  their  defence  into  their  own 
hands." 

Finally,  on  July  10,  eight  months  after  the  occurrence, 
the  case  was  brought  up  for  trial  before  not  only,  as  usual, 
the  French  Protector  of  Christianity,  but  before  the  Italian 
and  German  Consuls  and  the  dragomans  of  other  Consuls 
also  concerned.  No  accused  Greek  appeared  ;  they  had 
had  plenty  of  time  to  get  away.  Sixty  were  accused, 
thirty-one  sentenced,  of  whom  three  were  archimandrites, 
nine  monks,  and  nineteen  seculars.  The  Archimandrite 
Pachromios  was  sentenced  to  nine  months'  imprisonment, 
three  of  the  monks  to  four  months,  four  to  three  months, 
one  secular  to  three  months,  seven  seculars  and  one  archi- 
mandrite to  one  month,  the  remainder  to  short  periods  of 
one  or  two  weeks.  Writing  after  the  lapse  of  two  years 
after  the  trial,  I  cannot  learn  that  any  of  these  sentences 
have  been  carried  out. 

The  story  from  beginning  to  end  is  one  which  needs  no 
comment.  Even  those  who  are  not  privileged  to  feel  the 
sympathy  of  a  common  brotherhood  and  a  common  cause, 
must  at  least  feel  the  responsibility  of  a  common  humanity. 
"  Lives  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead  "  that  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  think  that  here  in  the  Holy  City,  in  the 
twentieth  century,  it  should  be  possible  for  an  armed  crowd 
to  deliberately  organize  an  assault  on  a  score  of  unarmed 
men,  bareheaded  and  barefooted,  who,  pledged  to  obedience, 
and  under  orders  "  to  show  by  the  correctness  of  their 
bearing  that  they  knew  how  to  wait,"  sat  for  hours  with 
folded  hands  until  driven  from  their  post  by  showers  of 
stones  ? 

The  city  of  Jerusalem  is  supposed  to  contain  about 

176 


MARTYRDOM    IN    JERUSALEM 

thirteen  thousand  "  Christians."  Not  one  solitary  man 
came  to  the  rescue. 

Two  episodes  deserve  especial  mention.  When  the  Vicar 
Custodial,  a  man  of  fifty  years  of  age,  returned  from  his 
afternoon  interview  with  the  Custos,  "  four  Greek  monks 
surrounded  him  at  once,  striking  at  him  with  clubs,  one 
with  a  hatchet.  The  hatchet  had  already  inflicted  one 
slight  wound,1  and  was  just  raised  by  the  monk  who 
wielded  it  for  a  more  telling  blow,  when  three  men  rushed 
to  the  rescue  of  the  Father."  Two  of  these  were  Arabs  and 
one  a  Turk.  This  last  was  the  only  officer  not  rewarded 
by  distinction  or  promotion  at  the  general  distribution  of 
favours  by  the  authorities. 

A  Turkish  officer  was  seriously  wounded  by  a  Greek 
monk  and  lost  his  eye.  "  As  this  might  have  been  followed 
by  serious  consequences  for  the  cause  of  the  Greeks,  they 
left  nothing  undone  to  conciliate  the  soldier.  They  visited 
him  in  the  hospital,2  each  time  leaving  several  gold  pieces 
under  his  pillow,  until  he  had  fully  recovered.  They  later 
on  settled  the  matter  with  him  for  the  sum  of  about  five 
thousand  francs,  and  induced  him  to  testify  that  he  was 
wounded,  not  by  a  Greek,  but  by  one  of  the  Franciscans, 
although  it  was  amply  proven  that  none  of  the  Franciscans 
carried  a  weapon." 

A  Franciscan  has  described  the  touching  scene  which 
occurred  in  the  refectory  of  the  Convent  at  the  hour  of 
supper  on  that  unhappy  fourth  of  November,  the  many 
empty  seats,  the  sad  countenances  of  those  present.  The 
aged  Custos  was  overcome  with  grief.  He  praised  the 
courage  for  sacrifice  of  those  who  lay  suffering  on  their 
beds  of  pain.  He  called  them  martyrs  of  duty,  fearless 
protectors  of  the  Holy  Shrines  and  Saints  of  God,  in  that 
they  shed  their  blood  in  so  holy  a  cause  and  so  precious  a 

1  Described  by  the  surgeon  as  "  exposing  the  skull." 

2  He  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  tended  by  Dr.  Cant,  in  the  British 
Ophthalmic  Hospital. 

177  N 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

charge  as  that  which  has  been  entrusted  to  the  Sons  of 
St.  Francis.  .  .  .  Their  mission  in  the  Orient,"  he  said, 
"  afforded  them  frequent  opportunities  for  illuminating 
the  pages  of  their  Order's  history  with  their  blood — freely 
and  gladly  shed." 

So  much  has  been  said  in  certain  quarters  as  to  the 
alleged  readiness  of  the  Franciscans  to  receive  offence,  that 
it  may  be  interesting  to  recall  that,  in  the  year  1856,  an 
almost  similar  fray  occurred  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  not 
between  Greeks  and  Latins,  but  between  Greeks  and 
Armenians.  It  was  during  the  very  week  in  which,  in 
Jerusalem  as  well  as  in  Europe,  every  one  was  rejoicing  in 
the  restoration  of  general  peace  after  the  Crimean  war. 
Te  Deums  were  sung  in  every  church,  and  a  decree  had  been 
issued  by  the  Government,  publicly  read  in  the  Jerusalem 
Serai,  in  which,  among  others,  had  occurred  the  following 
admirable  announcement  on  the  part  of  the  Sultan : — 

"As  all  forms  of  religion  are  and  shall  be  freely  professed 
in  my  dominions,  no  subject  of  my  Empire  shall  be  hindered 
in  the  exercise  of  the  religion  that  he  professes,  nor  shall 
be  in  any  way  annoyed  on  this  account." 

Scarcely  had  the  echo  of  this  liberal  sentiment  on  the  part 
of  a  Moslem  died  away,  scarcely  were  the  illuminations  in 
honour  of  the  Peace  extinguished,  when,  on  the  Greek 
Easter  Eve,  a  disturbance  broke  out  within  the  sacred 
precincts  on  the  occasion  of  the  Holy  Fire.  It  was  no 
accidental  outburst  under  sudden  provocation.  Pilgrims 
provided  themselves  with  stones  and  cudgels,  and  a  further 
supply  of  weapons  was  thrown  down  from  a  window  in  the 
gallery  communicating  with  the  Greek  Convent.  Certain 
details  of  the  scene  bore  a  curious  resemblance  to  those  of 
the  later  occasion.  In  each  case  the  Commandant  of  the 
troops  and  some  of  his  men  were  hurt,  a  Turkish  officer 
was  severely  wounded  with  a  knife,  and  over  twenty  on 
each  side  were  seriously  injured.  On  this  occasion,  unfortu- 

178 


MARTYRDOM   IN   JERUSALEM 

nately,  part  of  the  fray  occurred  actually  within  the  sacred 
edifice,  and  many  valuable  pictures  were  torn,  Church 
ornaments  destroyed,  and  some  silver  lamps  and  silver 
chains  subtracted. 

As  on  the  latter  occasion,  one  victim  was  especially  selected 
for  assault ;  a  lad  was  stabbed  on  face  and  neck  by  the 
Greeks  on  account  of  his  having  paraded  a  sort  of  Guy 
Fawkes  effigy  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia  during  the  late 
illuminations.1 

1  Finn  op.  cit.  ii.  xxxvi. 


179 


EARLY  ASSOCIATIONS — CRUSADES — TRADE — ANGLO-PRUS- 
SIAN BISHOPRIC — PROTESTANT  INFLUENCE — LACK  OF 
ENGLISH  ENTERPRISE  AND  PHILANTHROPY — ENGLISH 
BISHOPRIC  ESTABLISHED 

THE  association  of  England  with  the  Holy  Land  has 
always  been  somewhat  capricious  and  ineffective— 
a  single  gravestone  in  the  Court   of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,1 
the    share    taken   by   Edward   IV  in  restoring   the    roof 2 

1  This  gravestone,  which  forms  part  of  the  pavement  almost  in 
front  of  the  door  of  the  Holy   Sepulchre,   commemorates   Philip 
d'Aubigny,  the  lord  of  the  Castle  of  Devizes  in  Wiltshire,  guar- 
dian to  Henry  III,  and  Governor  of  the  Channel  Islands.     We  learn 
from  Matthew  Paris  that  he  was  one  of  the  twenty-four  barons  who 
signed  Magna  Charta,  1215,  and  that  he  afterwards  joined  the  Sixth 
Crusade.     He  was  at  Acre  in  1222,  with  the  Emperor  Frederic  II, 
when  Jerusalem  was  recovered  in   1228,  and  remained  with  the 
Crusaders  till  his  death  shortly  before  their  expulsion  by  the  Sultan 
of  Egypt  in  1236.     The  stone  is  now  very  much  defaced  by  the  fre- 
quent passage  of  feet,  from  which  it  was  preserved  until  1864,  by 
being  covered  with  a  block  of  masonry,  but  an  emblem,  probably  a 
cross,  surmounts  the  Hie  jacet  and  the  name  is  still  visible.      From 
earlier  records,  however,  we  learn  that  the  inscription  was  as  follows  : 

"  Hie  jacet  Philippus  de  Aubinedi  cujus  anima 
requiescat  in  pace.     Amen." 

The  coat  of  arms  is  a  heart-shaped  shield  bearing  four  fusils  in  fess. 

2  Whether  any  English  work  really  remains  is  more  than  doubtful. 
Edward  IVs  share  was  the  lead,  that  of  Philip  of  Burgundy,  the 
wood  ;  and  about  200  years  later,  the  Turks  stripped  the  roof  of  its 
lead  in  order  to  make  bullets. 

180 


V 


ENGLAND    IN   JERUSALEM 

of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  at  Bethlehem,  and  the  grave  *  of 
the  murderers  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  in  the  Haram 
Area,  being  the  sole  material  links  at  present  discoverable. 
Certain  historians  have  sought  to  show  that  Constantine, 
who  did  so  much  for  Jerusalem,  was  born  at  York,  but 
according  to  Gibbon  (Decline  and  Fall,  chap,  xiv.)  the  place 
of  his  birth,  as  well  as  the  condition  of  his  mother,  Helena, 
far  from  being  established,  have  been  the  subject,  not  only 
of  literary,  but  of  national,  dispute.  For  the  first  associa- 
tion with  England  we  have  to  turn  to  a  mention  made 
by  St.  Paula,  one  of  the  two  Roman  ladies  who  followed 
St.  Jerome,  and  who  writes  to  her  friend,  Marcella,  about 
390  A.D.  :  "  The  Briton,  when  separated  from  our  world,  if 
he  has  made  any  progress  in  religion,  leaves  the  setting  sun 
and  seeks  a  place  known  to  him  only  by  fame  and  the 
narrative  of  the  Scriptures  "  (ad  Marcellam,  ii.  2).  The 
Briton,  it  is  to  be  feared,  had  unfortunately  made  no  pro- 
gress in  religion  at  that  period,  which  was  nearly  two  hundred 
years  before  even  St.  Patrick  or  St.  Columba,  and,  so  far  as 
we  know,  the  first  Briton  to  "  leave  the  setting  sun  "  in 
favour  of  the  Holy  City  was  Willibald,  a  nephew  of  St.  Boni- 
face, who,  with  seven  companions,  went  to  Palestine  in  754, 
and  was  imprisoned  by  the  Saracens.  Happily  they  were 
redeemed  by  the  private  liberality  and  influence  of  a 
merchant,  who  represented  to  the  King  that  they  came 
"  from  the  west  country  where  the  sun  sets,  and  we  know 

1  They  are  buried  within  El  Aksa  or  "  the  further  Mosque,"  so 
called  in  opposition  to  that  of  Mecca,  which  was  for  nearly  seventy 
years  the  home  of  the  Knights  Templars.  This  was  originally, 
although  desecrated  and  probably  in  part  destroyed  meanwhile,  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary,  otherwise  the  Church  of  the  Presentation,  built 
by  Justinian  in  the  fifth  century.  There,  not  far  from  the  entrance, 
their  graves  are  still  pointed  out.  As  part  of  the  penance  ordained  by 
Pope  Alexander  III,  they  came  to  Jerusalem — Hovenden  says  to 
the  "  black  mountain,"  possibly  Jebel  Musa,  still  celebrated  for  its 
black  stone,  and  were  buried  at  Jerusalem.  "  Quorum  superscriptio 
haec  est.  Hie  jacent  Miseri  qui^martyrizaverunt  beatum  Thomam 
archiepiscopum  Cantuariensem. ' ' 

181 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  no  land  beyond  them  but  water  only,"  to  which  the  King 
replied,  "  Why  ought  we  to  punish  them  ?  They  have  not 
sinned  against  us — give  them  leave  and  let  them  go."  And 
even  the  backsheesh  of  four  deniers  which  other  prisoners 
had  to  pay  was  remitted  to  them.  Two  accounts  of  the 
travels  of  St.  Willibald  have  come  down  to  us — one  by  one 
of  his  companions  in  travel,  but  written  some  time  after 
and  from  memory ;  the  other  by  an  English  nun,  said  to 
have  been  named  Roswida,  who  had  personally  listened  to 
the  Saint's  narrative,  and  whose  manuscript  was  corrected 
by  himself.  It  has  all  the  advantages  and  drawbacks  one 
might  expect  from  a  scribe  who  made  up  in  personal  interest 
what  she  lacked  in  literary  experience.  She  devotes  nine 
chapters  to  an  account  of  the  Saint's  childhood,  and  heaps 
up  adjectives  to  give  weight  to  her  convictions.  As  she 
herself  says,  "  I  pluck  twigs  from  the  lowest  branches  with 
what  small  skill  I  possess,  and  offer  these  few  things  to 
serve  you  as  a  memorial.  On  the  other  hand,  the  very 
simplicity  and  naivete  of  her  work  has  led  to  the  record 
of  details  which,  like  those  of  Boswell  or  Pepys,  undoubtedly 
add  interest  of  a  kind  which  we  should  not  have  found  in 
more  dignified  biography. 

Her  descriptions  of  Calvary,  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  Pool 
of  Solomon's  Porch,  the  Tomb  of  our  Lady,  the  Church  of 
the  Ascension,  are  the  more  valuable  as  contributions  to  the 
discussion  of  the  authenticity  of  the  present  sites,  that  they 
contain  just  those  small  points  of  detail  which  are  valuable 
helps  in  identification.  She  relates  that  after  his  return  to 
Rome  he  was  called  upon  to  describe  his  adventures  to  the 
Pope,  Gregory  III,  who  "  turned  all  these  subjects  over  in 
pleasant  and  familiar  conversation,"  after  which  "  this 
strenuous  athlete  of  our  good  God  "  was  made  a  bishop,  and 
"  immediately  many  commenced  to  flock  together  from  all 
sides  from  those  provinces  and  from  other  far-off  regions." 

The  pilgrimage  of  Arculphus,  though  he  himself  was 
French,  is  interesting  to  us,  for  his  association  with 

182 


ENGLAND   IN  JERUSALEM 

Adamnan  and  with  the  Venerable  Bede.  The  pilgrim  on  his 
way  home  got  out  of  his  course,  and  the  ship,  intended  for 
Bordeaux,  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  lona,  where  Arculphus 
was  hospitably  entertained  by  Adamnan,  who  took  notes 
of  his  descriptions,  and  even  preserved  a  rough  plan  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre. 

Ten  years  after  the  death  of  St.  Augustine,  Palestine  was 
conquered  by  the  Persians,  churches  were  destroyed,  the 
faithful  martyred,  and  the  Cross,  discovered  by  St.  Helena, 
carried  away  by  King  Chosroes  in  614,  and  not  restored  till 
his  defeat  in  628  by  the  Emperor  Heraclius.1  But  a  new 
power  was  now  rising  into  importance.  Among  the  Arabs 
of  the  Euphrates,  as  well  as  among  those  of  Syria  and  the 
Hauran,  revolutions,  both  civil  and  religious,  had  taken 
place,  and  the  rule  of  the  Khalifs  and  the  sway  of  Moham- 
medanism were  practically  contemporary.  The  year  of  the 
death  of  the  Prophet  (632)  was  that  of  the  succession  of  the 
second  Caliph,  Omar,  under  whom  Jerusalem,  Damascus, 
and  Antioch  were  captured,  and  finally  lost  to  the  Greek 
Empire  ;  and  whose  name  should  ever  be  held  in  gratitude 
by  the  Christian,  to  whom  he  showed  a  kindly  toleration, 
which  has  been  rare  even  in  succeeding  ages.  A  second 
benefactor  to  the  Christians  was  the  famous  Haroun  er 
Raschid,  who  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  Charle- 
magne, the  contemporary  of  our  own  Egbert,  and  in  whose 
time  the  hospice  for  pilgrims  in  Jerusalem,  founded  by 
Gregory  the  Great,  was  reconstituted. 

The  Latin  kings  did  much  for  the  cultivation  of  Palestine. 
Although  looking  back  and  merging  the  century  of  their 
rule  into  the  general  perspective  of  the  age,  it  seems  to  us 
as  if  nothing  were  accomplished  but  fighting,  building 
churches,  and  establishing  Orders,  it  is  probably  fair  enough 
to  say  that  the  little  kingdom  of  Palestine  enjoyed  a  greater 

1  The  reader  may  be  reminded  that  its  return,  carried  into  the 
Holy  City  by  the  Emperor  himself,  is  the  origin  of  the  Festival 
(Sept.  14)  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Cross. 

183 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

amount  of  peace  and  prosperity  than  most  of  her  sister 
kingdoms  of  the  period.  Records  still  existing  i  tell  us  of 
cisterns  constructed,  of  schemes  of  irrigation,  of  forests,  and 
corn-fields,  and  vineyards,  and  olive-gardens  ;  of  fields  of 
corn,  and  doura,  and  rice,  and  lentils,  and  beans,  and 
sesame  ;  of  flax,  cotton,  and  indigo  ;  of  melons,  peas,  and 
cucumbers ;  of  apricots  and  pomegranates,  oranges,  almonds, 
bananas,  and  figs.  Sugar,  now  practically  abandoned, 
must  have  flourished  in  considerable  quantities,  for  the 
crusading  mills  may  still  be  seen,  as  well  as  olive  and  wine- 
presses in  abundance,  ah1  pointing  to  cultivation  enormously 
— Colonel  Conder  estimates  it  as  ten  times — in  advance  of 
anything  now  known,  although  the  Jewish  and  German 
colonists  are  doing  much  to  restore  the  former  conditions. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  remember  that  there  was  a 
time  when  England  was,  however,  honourably  associated 
with  the  Holy  Land  ;  that  Robert  of  Normandy  mortgaged 
his  fief  to  his  brother,  and  with  the  money  thus  raised  joined 
the  Holy  War  for  the  expiation  of  his  sins  against  his  father  ; 
that  he  took  with  him  Stephen  of  Blois,  father  of  our  King 
Stephen,  who.  however,  deserted  the  expedition  at  Antioch  ; 
and  that  Henry  II  took  the  Cross,  though  he  did  not  live 
to  bear  it.  His  son,  the  Lion-Hearted,  who  in  his  zeal 
said,  "  I  would  sell  London  if  I  could  find  a  purchaser,"  is 
one  of  the  great  heroes  of  the  Holy  War ;  and  the  fact, 
preserved  for  us  by  Richard  of  Devizes,  shows  that  the 
genus  Englishman  was  in  course  of  evolution,  for  he  reached 
Palestine  without  being  sea-sick,  as  was  Philip  of  France. 
Francus  ma-re  nauseam,  says  the  historian.  Edward  I,  the 
last  Crusader,  had  correspondents  in  Jerusalem — the  Master 
of  the  Templars,  and  Sir  Joseph  de  Cancy,  a  worthy  York- 
shireman — who  tried  to  incite  him  to  renew  the  exploits  of 
his  youth,  when  he  entered  Palestine  with  a  little  army  of 
7,000,  of  whom,  however,  very  few  were  English. 

We  may  also  remember  that  our  King  Alfred  the  Great 

1  Rey,  Colonies  Franques,  235-252. 
184 


ENGLAND    IN   JERUSALEM 

contributed  his  share  to  the  royal  alms  for  the  support  of 
the  monasteries  of  Palestine.  Charlemagne,  who  founded 
(at  least)  three  religious  houses,  with  hospices  and  churches, 
sought  to  assure  their  future  maintenance  by  the  initiating 
of  annual  subsidies  ;  Louis  le  Debonnair  continued  the  pious 
custom  by  means  of  taxation,  and  in  the  eleventh  century 
we  find  Pope  John  VIII,  Alfred  of  England,  and  the  kings 
of  Hungary  laying  themselves  under  contribution. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
specimens  of  twelfth  century  workmanship  to  be  found  in 
the  British  Museum  is  the  Breviary  of  Queen  Millicent,  a 
zealous  benefactress  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  It  is  in 
the  Byzantine  style  of  binding,  with  sides  of  carved  ivory 
and  silver,  and  a  cross  embroidered  in  gold  on  the  back. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  she  was  the  half  Armenian 
daughter  of  Baldwin  II,  and  that  she  married  Fulk,  Count 
of  Anjou,  who  (by  his  first  wife)  was  father  of  Geoffrey 
Plantagenet,  and  grandfather  of  Henry  II  of  England, 
through  whom  the  Plantagenets  inherited  Anjou. 

In  1574,  England  made  a  treaty  with  Murad  III,  and  in 
1583  the  Levant  Trading  Company  was  started  under  the 
auspices  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Among  the  many  ways  in 
which  the  unhappy  King  Charles  I  sought  the  advantage  of 
the  Anglican  Church  was  that  of  extending  her  influence  to 
the  East,  where  already,  for  over  400  years,  the  Franciscan 
Order  of  Friars  Minor  had  been  firmly  established  as 
Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places.  Archbishop  Laud  made  a 
collection  of  Oriental  MSS.,  which  was  greatly  enriched 
by  the  presentation  to  the  King  in  1628  of  the  price- 
less Codex  Alexandrinus  of  the  New  Testament,  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  by  Cyril  Lucar,  Greek  patriarch  of 
Alexandria.  Moreover,  Laud  conceived  a  design  that  there 
should  be  "  a  Church  of  England  in  all  Courts  of  Christendom 
in  the  chief  cities  of  the  Turk  and  other  great  Mahometan 
princes,  and  in  all  our  factories  and  plantations,  in  every 
known  part  of  the  world,  by  which  it  might  be  rendered  as 

*  185 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

diffused  and  Catholic  as  the  Church  of  Rome."  *  In  spite, 
however,  of  the  immense  commercial  relations  between 
England  and  the  East,  and  of  the  reign  of  the  "  Turkey 
Merchant,"  nothing  was  done  until  the  establishment,  nearly 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  of  the  Anglican  Bishopric 
in  Jerusalem. 

The  story  of  this  renewal  of  our  relations  opens  about 
the  year  1840,  when  the  English,  together  with  the 
Austrian  banners,  were  displayed  in  Palestine  (over  Acre), 
probably  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Richard  I. 
It  was  an  hour  of  weakness  for  Turkey.  Egypt,  Crete 
and  Syria  had  been  wrested  from  her  grasp.  Was  there  not, 
for  the  first  time  since  the  Crusades,  a  chance  of  establishing 
a  Christian  kingdom  in  the  Holy  Land  ?  But  no  !  the 
gospel  of  the  balance  of  power  was  more  potent  than  the 
desire  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  the  Western  powers, 
fearful  of  adding  force  to  Russia  by  the  subtraction  of 
influence  from  Turkey,  re-established  the  supremacy  of  the 
Porte.  Their  opportunity  for  making  terms  went  by,  and 
Jerusalem  was  given  back  to  Islam  and  the  Grand  Turk. 
When  we  see  to-day  what  English  influence  has  done  for 
Egypt,  we  are  the  more  sensible  of  the  value  of  the  oppor- 
tunity, so  gratuitously  lost.  Philhellenism,  Philjudaismeach 
in  turn  urged  its  claims ;  colonies  of  English,  of  Germans, 
were  projected ;  a  protectorate  under  the  Porte  on  some 
such  lines  as  directed  the  Danubian  Provinces  was  suggested ; 
the  existing  activities  of  the  American  missionaries  at 
Beirut,3  the  potential  activities  of  English  societies,  all 
these  were  brought  before  the  notice  of  Lord  Palmerston, 

1  William  Laud.  Rev.  W.  H.  Hutton  (Leaders  of  Religion  Series), 
p.  165. 

2  The  traveller,  Eliot  War  burton,  writing  in  1848,  while  regretting 
that  there  was  not  in  Syria  an  English  missionary  who  had  taken  a 
University  degree,  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  Americans, 
who  had  even  then  fifteen  schools  under  "  devout  and  zealous  men, 
who,  though  Presbyterians,  have  probably  produced  a  deeper  effect 
than  is  at  present  apparent."  (The  Crescent  and  the  Cross,  ch.  xxiii.) 

186 


ENGLAND   IN  JERUSALEM 

of  the  English  Government,  but  the  only  practical  upshot  of 
the  matter  was  that  mysterious  alliance  between  the  Church 
of  England  and  the  Church  of  Prussia,  which  resulted  in  the 
mixed  bishopric,  appointed  alternately  by  England  and 
Prussia,  an  idea  unique  in  the  history  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  invented  by  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  not  only 
liberally  contributed  half  the  expenses,  £15,000,  but  allowed 
England  first  choice  of  a  bishop.  She  chose  Michael  Solomon 
Alexander,  a  Jew  from  Posen,  who  was  baptized  at  Plymouth 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  ordained  priest  at  Dublin  at  twenty- 
eight,  and  who  then  taught  Hebrew  in  King's  College. 
London,  until,  at  the  age  of  forty-two,  he  became  bishop 
at  Jerusalem.  He  was  accompanied  by  Ewald,  another 
Jew,  and  found  a  missionary,  a  Jew  of  Schleswig,  already 
at  work  in  the  Holy  City,  a  representative  of  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews,  presided  over  by 
Lord  Shaftesbury.  It  is  interesting  to  note  a  remark  by 
the  editor  of  the  Memoirs  of  Bishop  Oobat  in  relation  to 
this  very  period  :  "  Among  the  Christians  of  Great  Britain 
the  idea  began  to  gain  ground  that  the  time  of  the  prophesied 
conversion  and  restoration  of  Israel  was  at  hand,  but  of  the 
return  of  the  Jews  not  a  trace  was  to  be  discovered  " 
(op  cit.,  p.  223). 

Bishop  Alexander  died  in  1845,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Samuel  Gobat,  elected  by  the  King  of  Prussia.  Some 
glimpse  of  the  anomaly  of  the  position  may  be  gathered 
from  his  own  biographer,  who  tells  us  that  Herr  Zeller,  the 
father  of  Frau  Gobat,  "  was  shocked  ;  for  it  was  his  opinion 
that  no  bishop  could  be  saved  ;  the  temptation  to  worldli- 
ness  would  be  too  strong  "  (op.  cit.,  p.  227).  Herr  Werner, 
another  friend,  writes  :  "  By  speech  a  Frenchman,  you  are 
a  German  in  sympathies,  and  have  become  an  Englishman 
by  virtue  of  your  connexion  with  the  British  Mission." 

One  cannot  help  being  struck,  even  in  the  case  of  a  man 
of  such  undoubted  ability  and  personal  piety  as  Bishop 
Gobat,  by  one  peculiarity  of  the  Protestant  attitude  of 

187 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

mind,  which,  even  after  some  seventy  years  of  experience, 
is  apparently  just  as  strong  among  the  uninformed  to-day, 
that  of  attributing  to  French  political  influence  the  successes, 
religious  and  educational,  of  the  Latin  Church.  In  1847  he 
writes  :  "  I  fully  agree  with  you  that  the  combined  efforts  of 
French  and  Roman  policy,  of  which  education  is  the  most 
powerful  auxiliary,  are  calculated  greatly  to  increase  the 
influence  of  France  in  Syria.  But  the  more  I  reflect  on  this 
subject,  the  more  I  feel  our  want  of  means  to  counteract 
that  influence,  either  in  a  political  or  religious  point  of  view. 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that  the  greatest  difficulty  will  be 
with  the  natives  ;  although  in  this  respect,  also,  the  French 
emissaries,  whether  Jesuits  or  Sceurs  de  Charite,1  have  a  great 
advantage  over  us  in  the  fact  that  they  can  begin  their 
operations,  wherever  they  go,  with  co-religionists,  who  not 
only  have  no  prejudice  of  importance  against  them,  but  who 
have  also  been  accustomed  to  look  to  them  for  protection  " 
(op.  cit.  p.  236). 

There  is  no  doubt  that  esprit  de  corps  is  stronger 
among  the  Latins  than  is  at  all  to  be  looked  for  among  the 
miscellaneous  and  subdivided  varieties  of  Protestantism 
represented  in  the  Holy  City ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
only  religious  Order  at  that  time  in  Jerusalem  was  the 
definitely  international  Order  of  Friars  Minor,  commonly 
known  as  Franciscans,  of  whom  the  Superior  must  always 
be  an  Italian,  the  next  in  office  a  Frenchman,2  and  the 
procurator  a  Spaniard. 

1  It  is  thoroughly  typical  of  the  ignorance  which  so  often  charac- 
terizes the  attacks  of  one  religious  body  upon  other  communities, 
that  there  are  not,  and  never  have  been  any  Jesuits  in  Jerusalem, 
and  that  the  Sceurs  de  Charite  did  not  arrive  till  1886,  forty  years 
after  the  writing  of  the  above  passage.     The  pioneers  of  the  Sceurs 
de  Saint  Joseph,  whose  foundation  in  Jerusalem  dates  from  1848, 
may    conceivably   have   arrived.     The    Franciscans    had   been   the 
Guardians  of  the  Holy  Places  for  650  years,  and  the  priests  associated 
with  the  newly  restored  Patriarchate  had  just  appeared  upon  the 
scene.     No  French  order  of  priests  came  to  Jerusalem  before  1878. 

2  It  is  interesting,  in  view  of  the  present  relation  between  the 

188 


When  the  English  Bishopric  was  founded  in  Jerusalem 
the  field  was  practically  unoccupied  ;  the  Anglican  Church, 
had  she  chosen  to  avail  herself  of  it,  had  as  good  a  chance 
as  any  other  ;  the  Franciscans  were  mainly  occupied  with 
their  task  of  discovering,  securing  and  maintaining  the 
Holy  Places, — their  educational  work  had  hardly  begun  ; 
the  ten  religious  orders  of  priests,  with  the  two  brother- 
hoods, the  twelve  sisterhoods,  by  whom  they  have  been  so 
nobly  seconded,  men  and  women  from  all  continents  and 
both  hemispheres,  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  England  might 
have  founded  the  schools,  hospitals,  asylums,  orphanages, 
institutions  of  secondary  and  technical  education,  refuges, 
which  she  has  chosen  to  leave  to  those  of  other  faiths  and 
other  nationalities,  Christian  and  Jewish  ;  and  English, 
instead  of  French,  might  have  become  the  secondary 
vernacular  of  the  Jerusalem  of  to-day.  Had  the  Church  in 
England  been  disestablished  and  disendowed,  had  her 
representatives  been  placed  under  a  foreign  protectorate, 
had  her  hierarch  become  a  prisoner  in  his  own  house,  had 
the  representatives  of  her  faith  been  chased  with  ignominy 
from  the  country  to  which  they  had  given  love  and  work 
and  life,  one  might  have  understood,  in  some  degree,  the 
causes  of  failure  ;  but  it  is  our  England,  with  her  state 
religion,  her  endowments,  her  enormously  wealthy  missionary 
societies,  who  to-day  must  hide  her  diminished  head,  who 
to-day  in  Jerusalem  must  ask  the  Mohammedans  to  provide 
her  with  house-room,  the  Germans  to  nurse  her  sick,  the 
Latins  to  show  hospitality  to  her  pilgrims,  the  Americans 

Government  of  France  and  the  religious  orders,  to  realize  that  their 
claim  to  be  Protectors  of  Christianity  in  the  East  rests  not  merely 
on  conditions  of  policy  and  treaty,  but  on  their  further  claim  to  be 
the  hereditary  successors  of  the  Crusaders.  The  Holy  War  was 
preached  by  Peter  the  Hermit,  a  Frenchman  ;  its  conditions  were 
established  at  the  Council  of  Clermont,  a  French  Council ;  the  Frank 
kings  and  conquerors,  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  and  Baldwin,  were  French- 
men, as  was  also  Saint  Louis  the  Saint  of  the  Crusades,  the  hero  of 
the  final  attempt. 

189 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

to  make  her  Arabic  translations,  to  print  her  books,  to 
educate  her  sons,  to  prepare  them  for  professions  and  to 
provide  them  with  diplomas.  To  the  Jews  we  offer  a 
hospital  which  their  own  in  almost  every  respect  transcends, 
and  which  is  closed,  except  on  terms  practically  prohibitive 
to  all  but  the  rich  among  Christians ; *  to  others  we  offer 
only  untrained  teachers,  amateur  colporteurs  of  medicine, 
and  a  Gospel  which,  for  the  most  part,  we,  in  so  far, 
omit  to  illustrate.  In  proportion  as  we  reverence  our 
National  Church,  as  we  desire  the  spread  of  the  faith,  we 
shall  open  our  eyes  to  our  real  position  in  the  land  to 
which  we  owe  all  that  has  made  our  England  great  among 
the  nations. 

In  Jaffa,  the  seaport  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  gate  of  the 
Holy  Land,  where,  with  the  few  exceptions  of  those  who 
reach  the  interior  on  horseback,  every  "  Protestant " 
entering  Palestine  must  pass,  what  do  we  find  ?  In  the 
month  of  September  1902  we  found  schools  closed  for  the 
holidays,  the  missionaries  away,  a  hospital  closed  for  the 
summer  (the  time  of  greatest  physical  need  in  Palestine), 
and  within  the  gates  of  the  German  Colony  a  bare  room 
with  the  inscription,  "  Church  of  England.  Services, 
Sundays,  10.30  and  3  (the  three  o'clock  service  being  dis- 
continued)," and  then  we  quote  political  conditions  as  the 
cause  of  our  failure  to  appeal  to  the  sympathies  of  the 
Palestine  Moslem  ! 

The  immense  hospital  tended  by  the  Sceurs  de  Saint 
Joseph  was  full ;  the  sisters  had  lately  moved  from  the  large 
schools  they  have  outgrown  into  still  worthier  buildings  with 
every  modern  educational  improvement,  which  might  well 
be  the  envy  of  any  School  Board  in  England ;  we  found 
teachers  who  give  their  lives  (unsalaried)  to  God's  service ; 
orphanages,  asylums,  dispensaries,  secondary  schools,  where 


1  Fortunately  the  French  and  German  hospitals  are  open  gratis, 
or  on  moderate  terms,  irrespective  of  creed  or  nationality. 

190 


ENGLAND   IN   JERUSALEM 

the  machinery  never  stops,  and  the  least  of  these  our 
Lord's  brethren  is  cared  for  365  days  in  the  year ;  churches 
where  we  may  worship  at  any  hour  of  the  day  on  seven  days 
in  the  week.  In  a  population  of  33,000,  we  find  1,700  Latins 
and  200  Protestants,  and  those  largely  German  ;  we  meet  in 
all  parts  of  the  city  the  kindly  sons  of  St.  Francis  walking  two 
and  two,  like  the  disciples  of  old,  seeking  those  who  need 
their  practical  help,  and  ever  ready  to  offer  courtesy  to 
the  passing  stranger  or  show  hospitality  to  all,  irrespective 
of  faith,  position,  sex  or  nationality  ;  and  then  we  regret 
"  our  want  of  means  to  counteract  the  French  influence 
either  in  a  political  or  religious  point  of  view." 

It  seems  to  have  been  almost  by  a  freak  of  destiny  that 
here,  where  life,  history,  politics,  science,  art,  society  even, 
all  turn  upon  the  pivot  of  religion — here  with  the  eyes  of 
Christendom  upon  her — here  where  sheer  force  of  rivalry 
seems  to  put  each  Creed  upon  its  mettle,  England  should 
have  placed  herself  in  a  unique  and  anomalous  position 
never  attempted  elsewhere  in  the  whole  course  of  her 
history. 

The  biography  of  Bishop  Gobat  is  evidence  enough  of 
the  weakness  of  the  position  :  "  His  large  heart  was  full  of 
brotherly  love  for  the  truly  devout  among  the  German  and 
Swiss  evangelicals.  He  was  also  filled  with  reverence  for 
the  ancient  firmly  established  ordinances  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  a  state  of  feeling  which  his  office  rendered  obliga- 
tory and  his  humility  made  easy.  .  .  .  Did  he  desire  to 
ordain  priest  of  the  Church  of  England  some  candidate  from 
Switzerland,  who  had  already  received  a  quasi-ordm&tiou  at 
home,  the  step  was  disapproved  of  at  Berlin.  Did  he  permit 
a  non-episcopally  ordained  functionary  to  preach  in  Christ 
Church,  this  was  turned  to  his  reproof  in  other  quarters," 
and  so  on.  Was  ever  an  honest  man  placed  in  so  impossible 
a  position  ?  The  book  is  a  human  document  which  should 
be  carefully  read  by  any  one  seeking  to  estimate  justly  the 
present  position  of  Anglicanism  in  Jerusalem. 

191 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Bishop  Gobat  died  in  1879,  and  his  successor,  Bishop 
Barclay,  in  1882.  The  anomaly  which  had  existed  for 
forty-one  years  died  a  natural  death,  and  it  was  not  till 
after  five  years'  interregnum  that  the  position  was  re- 
constituted, and  Doctor  Blyth,  Archdeacon  of  Ran- 
goon, was  consecrated  as  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  Church  in 
Jerusalem  on  St.  Luke's  Day  1898. 


192 


IN  THK  TKMIM.K  PRECINCTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
ENGLISH   CHURCH   IN  JERUSALEM 

ANGLICAN  BISHOPRIC  —  ITS  DIFFICULTIES  —  MISSIONARY 
SOCIETIES — PROSELYTISM  CONDEMNED — EDUCATION — 
NEED  OF  ENGLISH  PHILANTHROPY — CHRIST  CHURCH — 
STATISTICS — MEDICAL  WORK — REMARKS  ON  MISSION- 
ARIES— ABSENCE  OF  ENGLISH  HOSPITALITY — -REMARKS 
BY  LADY  BURTON 

r  I  ^HE  definite  and  authoritative  expression  of  a  desire 
-I  for  the  presence  of  an  Anglican  Episcopate  came  from 
the  Patriarchs  of  the  Greek  Church  in  Jerusalem  and 
Constantinople,  but  Bishop  Blyth,  in  giving  the  history  of 
the  movement,1  does  not  hesitate  to  add  that  "  the  same 
professed  desire  for  the  unity  of  the  Church  in  Christ,  with 
the  same  personal  kindness  towards  ourselves  and  the  same 
hope  of  peace,  is  expressed  by  the  Latin  Church  as  by  our- 
selves and  by  the  Churches  of  thepEast."  "  The  circumstances 
of  the  Bishopric,"  reports  the  Bishop  himself  in  one  of  his 
earliest  charges,  "  are  peculiar  :  the  majority  of  the  clergy 
are  in  the  employ  of  Missionary  Societies  which  even  to 
minute  details  direct  the  affairs  of  missions  in  their  London 
office.  This  has  its  advantages  from  their  point  of  view — 
it  enables  them  to  bring  their  '  home  influences '  to  bear 
upon  all  questions  ;  but  from  a  diocesan  point  of  view  it 
has  its  grave  drawbacks — it  makes  a  separation  perhaps 
more  distinct  than  that  of  living  in  another  diocese  might 
do  between  various  bodies  of  clergy  ;  it  interferes  with  unity 

1  The  quotations  from  the  Bishop  are  taken  in  all  cases  from  his 
published  charges. 

193  O 


of  work  ;  it  allows  an  undesirable  scope  to  individual  eccen- 
tricity ;  it  paralyses  common  and  concerted  action  and 
progress  and  weakens  anything  like  diocesan  unity.  In 
whatever  sense  the  Anglican  Church  is  here  represented 
amongst  other  communions,  our  Church  is  affected  and 
compromised  by  action  taken  under  the  standard  of  the 
Church  of  England  by  any  association  which,  on  their 
private  rules,  act  independently  of,  or  counter  to,  the  policy 
of  the  Bishop  ;  and  to  the  extent  that  I  notice  this,  I  would 
have  it  regarded  by  the  Church  which  is  affected  by  it,  for  it 
is  keenly  and  justly  noted  by  the  Churches  around  us  "  .  .  . 
"  The  policy  pursued  by  our  missions  has  gathered  powerful 
foes  against  them.  It  is  no  secret  that  Government  action 
has  been  repeatedly  invoked  against  our  schools  on  requisi- 
tion by  other  Churches  on  which  aggression  has  been  made." 
The  two  Missionary  Societies,  one  devoting  itself  to  Jews, 
the  other  avowedly  to  Mohammedans,  the  one  dating  from 
1823,  the  other  from  1851,1  naturally  became  tinged  with 
the  accommodating  laxity  which  made  possible  the  condi- 
tions of  the  joint  bishopric,  and  which  has  probably  done 
more  than  any  fact  in  the  entire  history  of  the  English 
Church  to  injure  her  in  the  eyes  of  other  Churches.  The 
time  may  come  when  the  influence  and  example  of  St. 
George's  Collegiate  Church,2  strictly  "  moderate  "  as  is  its 
teaching,  will  convince  them  that  the  Anglican  Church  is 
not  merely  a  sect  of  the  "  Protestants  "  of  whom  they  speak 
wholesale,  who  keep  no  fasts,  and  reverence  no  saints, 
whose  Offices  are  recited  by  laymen,  whose  churches  are 
closed  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  who  communicate  at  any 
hour  of  the  day,  who  are  indifferent  to  bishops  and  other 
authority,  who  practically  allow  their  women  to  preach, 
and,  above  all,  who  seek  to  proselytise  among  other  branches 

1  The  mixed  Bishopric  was  founded  in  1841.     The  London  Jews' 
Society  seems  to  have  arrived  in  1841,  although  in  their  own  publica- 
tions they  date  from  1823  ;  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  1851. 

2  The  Church  built,  and  the  Collegiate  foundation  organized,  by 
Bishop  Blyth. 

194 


ENGLISH   CHURCH   IN   JERUSALEM 

of  the  Christian  faith.  It  is  in  vain  to  show  them  the  calendar 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  vain  to  call  their  attention 
to  rubrics,  in  vain  to  produce  authoritative  statements  as 
to  the  objects  of  the  Societies.  "  Ye  say  and  do  not  " 
is,  very  naturally,  their  reply.  Of  "  the  English  High 
Church  "  they  speak  with  unfailing  respect,  but  the  very 
name  they  bestow  upon  it  is  evidence  of  their  very  natural 
inability  to  perceive,  after  sixty  years'  active  demonstration 
to  the  contrary,1  that  it  represents  the  national  faith  of 
England,  and  not  merely  the  views  of  a  party  which  happens 
to  differ  from  the  missionaries.  One  can  hardly  expect, 
perhaps  indeed  one  would  hardly  desire,  that  they  should 
understand  that  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  Palestine 
is,  to  quote  Bishop  Blyth,  "  an  abnormal  mission  presenting 
features  quite  unique,  and  in  most  respects,  unlike  any 
other  mission  of  that  Society  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
I  think  fair  weight  must  be  given  to  this  difference,  for  I 
should  be  sorry  indeed  to  attach  to  the  whole  missions  of 
the  C.M.S.  the  strictures  which  I  must  sometimes  pass  upon 
their  special  work  in  this  country." 

"  I  had  thought  that  you  were  born  at  the  Reformation 
and  that  Martin  Luther  was  your  patriarch,"  was  the  obser- 
vation of  a  Greek  prelate,  and  no  doubt  he  represented  the 
views  of  the  Latins  and  Greeks  who  have  observed  and 
criticized  those  English  in  Jerusalem  who  appear  to  have 
consistently  sought  to  alienate  the  sympathies  of  those  of 

1  Although  the  Church  Missionary  Society  has  some  twenty-five 
clergy  in  Palestine  they  have  not  a  single  consecrated  church,  and 
many  of  their  stations  are  left  for  weeks  together  without  sacraments, 
in  the  charge  of  deacons,  whose  ordination  as  priests  for  some  myste- 
rious reason  they  are  chary  of  accomplishing.  In  some  stations 
they  have  a  room  reserved  for  service,  but  too  often  one  finds,  as 
Bishop  Blyth  regretfully  expresses  it,  "  the  irreverence  of  Baptism, 
where  there  is  nothing  set  apart  to  do  duty  for  a  font,  and  of  the 
Holy  Communion  on  the  loan  of  the  inky  and  rickety  schoolmaster's 
table."  He  relates  that  a  native,  being  reproved  for  smoking  cigar- 
ettes during  service,  replied,  "  Why  not  ?  this  is  not  a  Church.  You 
are  not  a  clergyman.  We  are  only  having  a  meeting." 

195 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

other  creeds.1  Though  definitely  prohibited  even  by  their 
own  Society  from  all  attempts  to  proselytise  among  other 
members  of  the  Christian  faith,  they  have  persistently 
sought  every  opportunity  of  so  doing  ;  a  policy  which 
endangers  the  continuance  of  all  English  work  in  the 
country.  By  the  original  convention  of  1841,  assigned  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  representative  of 
the  Prussian  Government,  "  the  Bishop,"  they  agreed,  "  is 
specially  charged  not  to  entrench  upon  the  spiritual  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  Churches  of  the  East,  but  to  confine 
himself  to  the  care  of  those  over  whom  they  cannot  right- 
fully claim  any  jurisdiction."  "  Thus,"  it  is  added,  by  our 
own  primates  in  1887,  on  the  establishment  of  the  Anglican 
Bishopric,  "  to  make  English  proselytes  of  the  members  of 
those  Churches,  to  make  it  the  worldly  interest  of  the  poor 
to  attach  themselves  to  us,  to  draw  away  children  against 
the  wishes  of  their  parents,  is  not  after  the  spirit  or  usage 
of  this  foundation." 

That  such  entire  disregard  of  conventions  understood, 
and  promises  definitely  given  and  received  is  recognized 
as  confined  to  the  work  of  the  C.M.S.  is  obvious  not  only 
from  the  friendly  reception  accorded  to  Bishop  Blyth  by 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Patriarchs  and  the  Bishops  of  the 
Syrian,  Coptic  and  Armenian  Churches,  but  also  because 
he  is  happily  able  to  record  conduct  more  scrupulous  on 
the  part  of  the  only  other  English  Mission  of  any  long 
standing  in  the  Holy  Land,  that  of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  Christianity  among  the  Jews. 

"  There  is  the  same  presence  around  these  missions  of 
other  Christian  Churches  who  might  pleasantly  swell  a 
congregation.  Yet  the  London  Jems'  Society  keeps  to  its 

1  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Services  in  the  German  Church  are 
reverent,  orderly  and  aesthetic,  and  that  the  Lutherans  of  Jeru- 
salem'are  punctilious  in  respect  of  ritual  and  observance  of  Feasts. 
They  are  too  much  occupied  with  practical  philanthropy  to  at- 
tempt proselytism. 

196 


ENGLISH    CHURCH    IN   JERUSALEM 

single  aim  ; 1  neither  by  education  nor  by  any  other  means 
does  it  aggress  upon  other  Churches.  There  is  not  a  single 
such  convert  on  their  roll,  nor  child  in  their  schools" 

One  can  hardly  feel  surprise  at  the  Bishop's  expression 
of  regret  at  "  the  employment  in  our  missions  of  teachers, 
preachers,  catechists  and  native  clergy  trained  originally 
for  the  work  of  those  who  are  not  in  communion  with  our 
Church,"  the  English  Church,  alone  perhaps  of  all  the 
creeds  represented  in  Jerusalem,  having  as  yet  no  training 
college,  and  indeed  no  school  which  can  claim  to  be  much 
more  than  elementary.  Those  desirous  of  education  in 
any  degree  advanced  must  seek  it  among  the  Latin  or  Greek 
religious  Orders,  or  in  the  Jesuit  or  the  Presbyterian  American 
College  at  Beirut.  Indeed,  all  higher  educational  movement 
for  men  or  women,  technical,  secular  or  religious,  is  in 

1  It  is  worth  while  to  quote  from  a  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Kent, 
May  4,  1813,  in  relation  to  the  foundation  of  this  Society.  After 
excusing  himself  from  a  meeting  on  account  of  the  Duchess  of  York's 
birthday,  he  says  :  "  I  am  most  sincerely  and  warmly  interested  in 
the  success  of  the  grand  object  which  they  have  in  view,  which  I 
consider  not  only  highly  laudable,  but  at  the  same  time  most  impor- 
tant ;  always,  however,  bearing  in  mind  that  every  idea  of  prosely- 
tism  must  be  excluded  therefrom,  the  freest  exercise  of  conscience 
upon  all  matters  of  religion  being,  in  my  own  opinion,  the  only  basis 
on  which  the  plan  can  thrive.  .  .  .  Although  holding,  as  I  do,  the 
Christian  religion,  agreeable  to  the  manner  in  which  it  is  professed 
and  taught  in  the  Established  Church  of  this  country,  to  be  the 
purest  guide  to  true  happiness  and  morality,  still  I  could  not  consider 
a  right  spirit  of  Christian  benevolence  as  going  beyond  the  extending 
our  arms  to  receive  into  the  bosom  of  our  Church  either  the  Jew  or 
Mahometan  who,  from  unbiassed  conviction,  becomes  a  convert  to 
Christianity."  It  is  fair  to  add  the  words  of  Bishop  Gobat,  by  whom 
the  C.M.S.  was  originally  invited  to  Jerusalem :  "  I  have  never  wished 
to  make  converts  from  the  old  Churches,"  i.e.  to  proselytise  in  the 
Greek  or  Latin  Churches,  and  again  :  "  Let  them  remain  in  their  own 
Churches,  and  there  confess  their  Saviour  and  His  truth." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  even  the  American  missionaries,  who 
are  under  no  political  obligation  hi  the  matter,  have  from  the  first 
been  aware  of  the  dishonourable  nature  of  all  attempts  at  prosely- 
tism.  Robinson,  writing  of  1838,  remarks  :  "  The  object  of  the  Ameri- 
can Missions  to  Syria  .  .  .  was  not  to  draw  off  members  of  the  Ori- 
ental* Churches  to  Protestantism."  {Biblical  Researclies,  section  vi.) 

197 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Jerusalem  in  the  hands  of  Germans,  Americans,  or  Jews. 
The  many  changes  and  improvements  which  have  followed 
the  establishment  of  an  Anglican  Bishopric  will,  before  long, 
include  the  promotion  of  higher  education,  and  indeed  the 
schools  already  existing  in  connexion  with  St.  George's  are 
in  advance  of  any  educational  work  hitherto  done  by  the 
English  in  Jerusalem. 

The  occupation  of  Palestine  by  the  Crusaders  lasted 
barely  a  century,  but  it  sufficed  to  cover  the  land  with 
countless  monuments  of  devotion.  It  is  literally  impossible 
to  explore  any  ground  of  an  acre  or  two  in  extent  within, 
say,  a  radius  of  two  miles  from  the  Holy  Sepulchre  without 
coming  upon  traces  of  churches  and  fortresses  of  considerable 
artistic  merit,  but  during  the  last  hundred  years  English 
zeal  and  English  money  have  not  availed  to  erect  half  a 
dozen  buildings  religious  or  philanthropic,  and  of  those,  St. 
George's  alone  has  any  architectural  pretentions  whatsoever. 

Christ  Church,  the  oldest  centre  of  English  missionary 
enterprise  in  Jerusalem,  is  a  small  building  eminently  early 
Victorian  in  style,  with  its  font  in  front  of  the  altar,  begun 
with  the  help  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  in  1842  and  built  at  the 
cost,  it  is  alleged,  of  over  £17,000.1 

The  Rev.  George  Williams,  B.D.,  who  was  Chaplain  to 
Bishop  Alexander,  and  whose  volumes  on  The  Holy  City 
are  among  the  most  readable  and  accurate  upon  the  subject, 
has  the  following  note  (vol.  ii.  p.  584,  second  edition),  a 
contribution  to  those  many  humiliations  to  which,  as 
English,  one  is  constantly  subjected  in  Jerusalem. 

"I  cannot  but  regard  it  as  an  unfortunate  circum- 
stance that  the  land  selected  for  the  English  Church 
(i.e.  the  English  Missionary  Church)  was  the  property 
of  the  Jacobites,2  unjustly  confiscated  by  the  Turks, 

1  The  Church  was  paid  for  partly  by  voluntary  subscriptions  from 
England  ;  Germany  contributed  £200  and  a  Miss  Cook  over  £20,000. 
The  very    beautiful    and    richly    decorated    Collegiate    Church    of 
St.  George's  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  £3,000. 

2  The  Jacobites  deserve  the  especial  consideration  of  all  who  call 

198 


ENGLISH    CHURCH    IN   JERUSALEM 

and  especially  that  their  venerable  Church  of  St.  James 
the  son  of  Alphaeus  should  have  been  used  as  a  de- 
pository for  lime  and  other  building  materials.  Even 
though  we  place  no  faith  in  their  local  traditions  and 
regard  the  sacred  places  with  indifference  ourselves,  it 
were  surely  well  to  bear  with  their  weakness  in  this  respect 
and  avoid  the  appearance  of  a  contemptuous  or  irreverent 
violation  of  scenes  associated  in  their  minds  with  the  most 
awful  events  of  sacred  history.  ...  If  we  think  that  we 
have  everything  to  teach  and  nothing  to  learn,  we  are 
wanting  in  the  first  qualification  for  the  task  which  we  have 
set  ourselves — the  spirit  of  humility." 

Mr.  Williams'  prophecies  as  to  the  effectiveness  of  our 
Missions  (as  at  present  organized)  made  in  1847  have  been 
but  too  sadly  fulfilled.  He  regards  them  not  only  as  intro- 
ducing false  doctrine  and  heresy  in  relation  to  the  Anglican 
Church,  but  as  provocative  of  schism  in  the  Churches  of  the 
East.  He  makes  the  suggestion  that  "  a  medical  staff  of 
Christians  devoting  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  Jews 
without  any  private  ends  might  perhaps  have  imperceptibly 
exercised  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  unbelievers.  It 
would  have  seemed  to  them  like  a  moral  miracle."  This 
suggestion  would  appear  to  have  been  at  one  time  accepted, 
as  in  Mr.  Montagu  Samuel's  Jewish  Life  in  the  East,  1881, 
we  read  that  Dr.  Chaplin  (as  well  as  Dr.  Schick),  the  medical 
officer  of  the  L.J.S.,  was  much  esteemed  by  the  Jews,  "  as 
he  is  very  good  to  them,  never  preaches  a  syllable  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  always  ready  to  visit  them  at  their  residences 
without  charge."  This  silent  oratory  of  good  deeds  is 
now  relegated  to  Latins,  Greeks,  Russians,  Germans  and 
Moravians,  who  nurse  the  sick  of  all  denominations  in 


themselves  Christian  as  the  representatives  of  those  Syrians  who 
followed  our  Lord  here  in  His  own  native  land,  and  who  still  pray 
in  the  language  in  which  He  taught.  How  can  other  Churches 
regard  the  fact  that  our  one  point  of  contact  with  them  is  the  desecra- 
tion of  one  sanctuary  and  the  spoliation  of  another  ? 

199 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

their  own  homes,  as  well  as  in  admirable  hospitals,  without 
any  demonstration  of  "  private  ends  "  ;  but  as  an  important 
Jewish  official  remarked  in  relation  to  the  English  Hospital, 
"  Mais  $a  ne  fait  rien.  Ce  n'est  pas  la  bas  qu'on  attrape  le 
Christianisme,  et  ga  fait  des  economies  pour  nous  autres  !  " 

Christ  Church  is  in  the  hands  of  the  London  Jews'  Society, 
while  the  C.M.8.  has  a  little  chapel  outside  the  city, 
where,  on  Sundays,  services  are  held  in  Arabic.  Some  of 
the  major  fasts  and  festivals  are  now  observed  at  Christ 
Church,  and,  thanks  to  the  zeal  of  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer, 
there  is  a  daily  service  in  Hebrew,  theoretically  for  the 
Hebrew  Christians,  but  which,  one  erroneously  supposes, 
must  be  eagerly  appreciated  by  the  missionaries  whose  work 
is  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  and  whom  one  innocently 
assumes  are,  of  course,  as  a  primary  condition,  fluent 
Hebrew  scholars  and  glad  to  familiarize  themselves  with 
that  language  on  its  devotional  as  well  as  on  its  practical 
side. 

In  the  interests  of  charity  one  has  to  bear  in  mind 
constantly  the  fact  that  the  present  generation  of  mission- 
aries has,  so  to  speak,  not  yet  outgrown  the  long  associa- 
tion with  those  of  the  Lutheran  faith,  and  that  by  them 
the  idea  of  obedience  to  Bishops  and  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  is  as  yet  but  imperfectly  understood  ; 
but  in  regard  to  the  observance  of  Feasts  and  Fasts,  Bishop 
Blyth  has  well  said,  "  Is  there  any  excuse  to  be  accepted 
in  a  land  where  the  Apostles  lived  and  walked  with  our  Lord, 
and  where  they  founded  His  Church,  and  where  the  Blessed 
Virgin  set  before  womankind  the  example  of  her  beautiful 
life  of  modesty,  reverence  and  obedience — for  the  neglect 
of  the  days  set  apart  by  every  branch  of  the  Church,  as 
by  our  own,  for  their  commemoration  ?  I  may  well  speak 
plainly  on  this  point,  since  a  clergyman  said  to  a  native 
brother,  '  Every  one  knows  that  those  days  are  now  obsolete 
and  are  only  observed  by  extreme  ritualists  !  ' 

Of  the  work  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christianity 

200 


ENGLISH   CHURCH   IN   JERUSALEM 

among  the  Jews  something  is  said  in  the  chapter  concerning 
Jews  in  Jerusalem,  and  on  the  same  analogy  observations 
concerning  the  work  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
should  be  relegated  to  the  chapter  upon  Mohammedans  in 
Jerusalem ;  but  although  the  enormous  amount  of  money 
spent  upon  the  Palestine  Mission  is  theoretically  subscribed 
for  the  conversion  of  Mohammedans,  then*  work  seems  to 
have  so  little  practical  relation  with  Mohammedanism  that 
it  is  only  with  a  chapter  upon  the  English  that  the  subject 
seems  to  have  any  obvious  connexion. 

As  there  are  no  heathen  in  Palestine,  and  the  Society  is 
technically  prohibited  from  interfering  with  other  Chris- 
tian Churches,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  their  statistics 
concern  their  relations  to  Moslems  only.  The  following 
figures  are  extracted  from  their  reports  for  the  years  1895- 
1901  inclusive. 

1894-5 — Expenditure,  £16,011  95.  2d.     Local  receipts, 

£119  16s.  5±d.     Adult  baptisms  none. 
In   1895-6— Expenditure,   £15,006  85.   3d.      Local  re- 
ceipts,   £136    3s.     lOfd.     Adult    baptisms,     one    in 
Jerusalem,  one  in  Jaffa. 

In  1896-7— Expenditure,  £14,762  Os.  lid.      Local  re- 
ceipts, £110  18s.  2d.     Adult  baptisms,  none. 
In  1897-8— Expenditure,  £15,917  11s.  Id.     Local   re- 
ceipts, £112  2s.  9d.     Adult  baptisms,  none. 
In    1898-9  — Expenditure,     £14,972    17s.    5d.     Local 
receipts,   £135  6s.   7d.     Adult  baptisms,  six,  all  in 
Gaza,  which  by  a  curious  coincidence  is  the  only 
station    contributing    nothing    whatever    to    local 
receipts. 

In  1899-1900— Expenditure,  £16,710  14s.  lid.  Local 
receipts,  £94  2s.  lOcl.  Adult  baptisms,  one,  at 
Gaza. 

In   1901-2— Expenditure,   £20,989  4s.   6d.     Local    re- 
ceipts, £431  6s.  2d.     Adult  baptisms,  none. 
Thus  we  observe  that  in  seven  years  there  has  been  a 

201 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

total  expenditure  in  Palestine  of  £114,370  Is.  9^.,  towards 
which  the  country  itself  has  contributed  £1,139  16s.  IQd. 
The  number  of  adult  baptisms  has  been  nine.  This  we 
may  take  as  an  average  annual  expenditure  of  £16,338 
lls.  Sd.  ;  average  local  receipts  (presumably  from  school 
fees  and  local  subscriptions),  £162  16s.  8±d.  ;  average 
baptisms,  If,  at  the  cost  of  £12,707  15s.  9d,  per  head.1 

The  Society  has  been  at  work  for  over  half  a  century, 
and  had  the  start  of  all  bodies  but  the  L.J.S.  and  the  Soeurs 
de  St.  Joseph.  The  country  of  Palestine  is  about  the  size 
of  Wales.  We  cannot  wonder  that  Bishop  Gobat  should  have 
written  to  Von  Bunsen,  in  1848,  "  That  there  can  be  no 
question  of  proselytising  among  the  Moslems,  is  a  matter 
of  course." 

One  naturally  inquires  whether  it  is  on  philanthropic 
work  that  so  large  an  income  is  expended  ? 

The  Report  of  1894-5  complains  that  Government  had 
stopped  the  medical  work  recently  begun  at  a  certain  town 
because  the  missionary  in  charge  "  not  being  a  properly 
qualified  medical  man,  cannot  practise  in  the  Turkish 
Empire."  In  the  British  Empire  they  would  probably  find 
that  the  police  would  go  further  than  stopping  the  work. 
The  Turkish  Empire  has  apparently  learnt  some  lessons 
on  this  point,  as  now  even  a  properly  qualified  medical 
man  must,  here  as  elsewhere,  have  his  diplomas  endorsed 
by  the  medical  faculty,  and  it  is  reported  that  two  men  were 
lately  imprisoned  for  resorting  to  a  reputable  M.R.C.S. 
and  M.B.  Lond.  who  had  neglected  to  comply  with  the 
usual  and  very  necessary  conditions  (C.M.S.  Report,  1900). 

The  C.M.S.  appears  at  one  time  to  have  attempted 
a  printing  press,  as  in  1900  it  is  reported  that  a  child's 
book  was  issued,  and  during  some  of  the  previous 
years  we  hear  also  of  the  issue  of  a  Church  History  of  the 
first  seven  centuries,  a  grammar  of  Arabic  particles,  an 

1  Jews  are  cheaper.  The  average  cost  of  a  Jewish  conversion  is 
£1,200,  as  has  been  already  seen. 

202 


ENGLISH    CHURCH    IN   JERUSALEM 

almanac,  and  Discourses  upon  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  by 
the  Rev.  H.  E.  Fox.  Although  Jerusalem  is  the  head- 
quarters of  Arabic-speaking  Missions,  no  literary  work 
worth  mentioning  has  been  accomplished  ;  and  for  books, 
as  for  trained  teachers,  the  English  Church  depends  upon 
the  American  Presbyterians  at  Beirut. 

In  1891,  the  Mission,  for  the  first  time,  established  a 
hospital  at  Gaza  ;  four  others  have  since  been  added,  none, 
however,  within  two  days'  journey  of  Jerusalem. 

In  Jerusalem  itself  the  Society  is  represented  by  a  small 
church,  where  there  are,  on  Sundays,  services  in  Arabic, 
an  iron  room  for  classes  and  prayer  meetings,  a  secondary 
school  known  as  the  Preparandi,  which  according  to  a  late 
report  had  seventeen  students,  and  a  primary  school 
founded  by  Bishop  Gobat,  which  seems  prosperous  and 
effective,  and  contains  seventy-eight  boys,  who  are  taught, 
among  other  matters  of  useful  knowledge,  drilling,  cricket 
and  football,  all,  for  reasons  obvious  to  the  student  of 
oriental  psychology,  of  especial  value  to  the  Arab  races. 

The  report  is  made  under  the  headings  of  six  stations — 
Jerusalem,  Jaffa,  Gaza,  Nablous,  Nazareth  and  Salt. 

In  the  Report  for  1900  we  read  for  the  first  time  of  the 
C.M.S.  having  undertaken  work  at  Bethlehem,  so  literally 
the  cradle  of  Christianity.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town 
and  neighbouring  villages  were,  however,  long  ago  Christian- 
ized by  Greeks,  Latins  and  Armenians.  The  English  Mission 
has  no  church  and  no  clergy,  but  the  immense  crowd  of 
white-veiled  women  and  barefooted  men,  seated  on  the 
floor  of  the  large  Latin  Church,  not  only  every  Sunday  but 
on  all  Holy  Days  (which  are  kept  with  great  precision), 
is  a  very  striking  spectacle.  There  are,  moreover,  well 
worked  and  long  established  German  mission  stations  with 
handsome  churches  and  various  philanthropic  institutions, 
orphanages,  dispensaries  and  schools  both  at  Bethlehem 
and  the  neighbouring  village  of  Beit  Jala.  There  was 
formerly  an  English  mission  admirably  worked  by  Miss 

203 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Jacomb,  sent  out  nearly  half  a  century  ago  by  some  obscure 
society  now  extinct,  a  lady  whose  memory  and  practical 
work  is  still  revered  among  the  natives. 

The  missionaries  do  not  live  in  community,  as  economy 
might  suggest,  but  the  ladies  occupy  houses  singly  or  in 
pairs.  Each  has  £100  a  year,  house-rent  and  medical 
attendance,  and  living  is  exceedingly  cheap.  The 
climate  is  on  the  whole  salubrious — mean  temperature 
62£°.  Moreover,  most  of  the  schools  have  nearly  three 
months  holiday  in  the  year,  and  every  three  years,  according 
to  the  latest  arrangements,  the  missionaries  may  go  home  for 
six  months,  expenses  paid.  In  certain  cases,  to  meet  the 
views  of  anxious  parents,  return  is  even  more  frequent. 
This,  it  is  said,  is  necessary  for  health.  I  do  not  find  that 
any  other  European  residents,  consuls,  medical  men  or 
their  families,  require  so  frequent  a  variety  ;  indeed,  on 
careful  inquiry,  I  believe  that  the  usual  term  of  residence 
for  the  official  classes  averages  about  six  years,  though  many 
remain  for  much  longer  periods.  Of  those  engaged  in 
religious  work  in  other  Churches  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak. 
The  majority  are  here  for  life ;  and  though  in  most  cases, 
certainly  in  that  of  the  women,  their  work  is  unspeakably 
more  severe,  they  utterly  ridicule  any  suggestion  of  injury 
to  health.  I  have  consulted  on  this  point  not  merely  those 
who,  coming  from  southern  lands,  may  possibly  be  the 
better  acclimatized  to  Palestine,  but  Swedes,  Russians, 
French,  Swiss,  Dutch,  Germans,  Canadians  and  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  United  States.  Even  English,  Scotch 
and  Irish  appear  to  have  greater  powers  of  endurance  and 
sustained  effort  when  dissociated  from  missionary  societies. 

Of  course  it  is  only  fair  to  remember  that  these  have  no 
fatigue  of  social  claims,  that  they  live  in  communities  of 
scores  and  hundreds  and  have  no  need  to  take  thought  for 
the  morrow,  that  their  associates  and  friends  are  in  some 
cases  little  children,  in  others  the  homeless,  the  sick,  the 
crippled,  the  aged,  the  leprous,  even  the  criminal.  To 

204 


visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction  and  keep 
oneself  unspotted  from  the  world  seems  to  be  economical 
even  to  health  and  spirits  as  well  as  to  the  purse  of  the 
subscriber.  I  note,  for  example,  that  during  the  years 
1894-1900  inclusive  the  cost  of  Palestine  missionaries 
under  the  heading  of  "  outfit,  passages,  allowances  for 
home  leave,  children  and  shipping "  amounts  to  £5,959 
185.  9d.,  an  annual  average  of  over  £883,  which,  now  that 
more  frequent  leave  is  permitted,  will  presumably  be  con- 
siderably increased. 

The  Church  missionaries  have,  moreover,  certain  advan- 
tages of  which  one  does  not  hear  in  connexion  with  other 
employment,  and  one  reads  in  their  reports,  not  only  of 
gratuitous  training,  but  even  while  students,  of  allowances 
for  dress  and  travelling — an  advantage  which  students  for 
the  Army  and  Navy,  the  Church,  Medicine  or  the  Law, 
presumably  also  preparing  for  the  service  of  their  fellow- 
creatures,  though  under  conditions  of  less  assured  payment, 
might  regard  with  legitimate  envy. 

The  Church  of  England  alone,  among  all  religions,  has 
no  provision  for  hospitality  to  strangers.  Greeks,  Russians, 
Abyssinians,  Copts,  Armenians,  Germans,  Austrians, 
French,  have  all  their  national  hospices,  and  the 
Assumptionist  Order  at  Notre  Dame  as  well  as  the  Francis- 
can Fathers  at  the  Casa  Nuova  are  prepared  to  receive 
over  500  and  200  pilgrims  respectively,  irrespective  of 
sex,  creed  or  nationality,  not  only  entertaining  them 
with  all  suitable  hospitality,  but  making  arrangements  for 
their  visits  to  all  places  of  pious  pilgrimage.  In  travelling 
over  the  country,  moreover,  all  creeds  and  nationalities 
are  kindly  welcomed  in  the  guest-houses  attached 
to  the  monasteries,  Greek,  Latin  and  Russian  alike. 
As  long  ago  as  October  1848  Bishop  Gobat,  in  his  Circular 
Letter,  admitted  the  need  of  the  English  community  in 
this  direction.  After  commenting  with  no  doubt  deserved 
severity  upon  the  conduct  of  the  Protestant  immigrant, 

205 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

he  continues  :  "  From  the  foregoing  remarks  it  must  become 
clear  to  every  one  how  desirable  it  is  that  a  hospice  should 
soon  be  established  for  the  reception  of  such  travellers  to 
aid  them  in  their  want  and  degradation.  Then  it  is  not 
fair  that  Protestant  artizans  should  absorb  the  alms  of 
Roman  Catholics."  A  German  Protestant  Hospice  has 
since  been  established,  and  England  alone  sets  no  example 
of  welcome  to  the  immigrant,  she  alone  organizes  no  pil- 
grimages, offers  no  hospitality,  facilitates  no  religious 
ardours,  fails  even  to  provide  care  or  shelter  for  the  sick 
among  her  own  people. 

In  reflecting  on  the  practical  efficacy  of  mission  work 
one's  thoughts  naturally  turn  towards  our  earlier  British 
missionaries,  St.  Patrick,  St.  Columba,  St.  Augustine,  St. 
Boniface  and  even  to  Henry  Martin,  Judson,  Heber,  or 
Paterson.  But,  neglecting  such  examples,  let  us  only 
quote  from  the  Baptist  missionary,  David  Livingstone, 
who  assuredly  cannot  be  accused  of  entertaining  "  popish  " 
proclivities.  Of  the  ancient  monks,  the  earliest  to  follow 
the  teaching  of  our  Lord's  own  missionaries,  to  go  without 
purse  or  scrip,  he  writes,  "  They  did  not  disdain  to  hold 
the  plough.  They  introduced  fruit-trees,  flowers,  vege- 
tables, in  addition  to  teaching  and  emancipating  the  serfs. 
Their  monasteries  were  mission  stations  which  resembled 
ours  in  being  dispensaries  for  the  sick,  almshouses  for  the 
poor,  and  nurseries  of  learning."  He  was  not,  of  course, 
referring  to  mission  work  in  Palestine  in  saying  "  ours." 

I  am,  however,  officially  assured  that  philanthropic 
work  is  purposely  and  definitely  excluded  from  the  objects 
of  the  C.M.S.  with  the  exception  of  the  five  medical  missions 
which  figure  in  the  last  report  as  receiving  the  apparently 
very  inadequate  and  disproportionate  allowance  of  £1,287 
out  of  an  expenditure  of  nearly  £21,000^;  so  that  it  is  in 
vain  to  plead  for  the  establishment  of  such  civilizing  agencies 

1  Of.  the  allowance  for  holidays,  p.  205. 
206 


ENGLISH    CHURCH    IN   JERUSALEM 

as  technical  and  industrial  schools  where  the  boys  and  girls 
of  towns  and  villages  might  be  taught  the  Christianizing 
influences  of  orderly  homes  honestly  earned ;  perhaps  one  may 
venture  to  hope  however  that  the  time  may  come  when 
at  least  some  definite  and  recognized  standard  of  education 
may  be  exacted  from  those  who  come  out  here  to  teach ; 
that  the  examination  in  the  Arabic  which  it  is  their  business 
to  acquire  after  their  arrival  in  the  country  shall,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  schools  in  which  they  teach,  be  conducted 
by  some  extraneous  authority  and  that  the  study  of 
the  Koran  should  be  incumbent  upon  those  whose  concern 
is  presumably  religious  discussion  with  those  of  the  Moslem 
faith.  Unhappily,  as  the  Moslems  have  now  provided 
themselves  with  excellent  educational  advantages  and  many 
valuable  philanthropic  institutions,  as  charity  and  alms- 
giving are  an  inherent  part  of  their  religion,  the  time  has 
now  passed  when  an  example  such  as  has  long  been  offered, 
among  Protestants,  by  the  Lutherans,  Moravians,  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  the  American  Presbyterians  and  the 
Society  of  Friends  might  have  been  usefully  associated 
with  the  work  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Lady  Burton  describes  a  scene  which  might  equally  occur 
almost  anywhere  in  Syria  in  certain  Protestant  schools  to- 
day. "  I  once  asked  a  group  of  girls  what  they  learned  in 
school.  I  shall  not  quote  their  answer,  but  after  a  long  tirade 
I  said,  '  Can  you  make  bread  and  butter  or  cook  ? '"  She 
might  have  added  "  or  wash,  or  iron,  or  clean  the  house,  or 
do  plain  needlework,  or  cut  out  your  own  clothes,  or  even 
carry  a  parcel  without  complaint  ?  "  and  now,  as  well  as 
then,  she  might  have  received,  as  I  have  three  times  received, 
the  negative,  the  contemptuously  negative  answer,  she 
describes.  Now,  as  then,  she  might  vainly  seek  throughout 
the  houses  of  European  residents  and  the  hotels  of  Jerusalem 
for  any  mistress  who  would  take  a  "  Protestant  "  servant, 
man  or  woman,  while  she  could  get  any  one  else  to  serve 
her  ;  and  that  despite  the  obvious  convenience  of  a  religion 

207 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

which  demands  no  week-day  churchgoing,  no  fasts,  no 
early  communions,  no  inconvenient  confessions.  Now,  as 
then,  she  might  conclude,  "  we  had  better  let  education 
alone  till  we  understand  our  business  better,  and  until 
we  have  learnt  to  introduce  our  virtues  and  leave  our 
vices  at  home." 


208 


NKBI  SAMWEEI.,  THE  Iloi'SE  AND  TOMB  OF  SAMUEL. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
ENGLISH   TRADE  AND   ENGLISH  TRAVEL 

COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS  OF  ENGLAND  AND  SYRIA — JERU- 
SALEM WATERWORKS — THE  ARAB  OF  THE  EAST — 
WHAT  HE  THINKS  OF  THE  WEST — THE  TRAVELLER, 
AMERICAN  AND  ENGLISH  ;  ACCORDING  TO  LADY 
BURTON  ;  TO  CANON  DALTON  ;  TO  MARK  TWAIN  ; 
TO  CLERMONT  GANNEAU  —  THE  DRAGOMAN  —  THE 
SOLDIER  AND  POLICEMAN 

ENGLAND'S  share  of  responsibility  for  the  Holy  Land, 
whether  she  accept  it  or  not,  is  the  more  obvious 
when  we  consider  what,  in  regard  to  so  small  a  country,  is 
the  surprising  extent  of  her  commercial  relations.  The 
most  important  item  of  trade  in  Palestine  is  oranges,  of 
which,  says  a  recent  Blue  Book,  almost  the  whole  were  sent 
to  the  United  Kingdom,  the  total  value  being  £86,525,  an 
increase  of  £12,310  on  the  previous  year.  The  next  in 
importance  among  the  exports  are  wine  and  spirits,  manu- 
factured mainly  in  Jewish  and  German  colonies,  and  which 
during  the  year  1901  increased  in  value  by  £13,510  (i.e. 
£35,350  as  against  £21,840).  It  does  not  appear  who 
are  the  principal  purchasers,  but  from  the  fact  that 
in  the  shipping  returns  Austro-Hungary  takes  the  second 
place  after  England  one  may  suppose  that  she  repre- 
sents some  share  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  addition  to 
her  own  traffic  in  mail  bags  and  passengers.  Great 
Britain  was  represented  by  140  vessels,  Austro-Hungary  85, 
Russia  79,  France  66.  One  would  have  expected  olives  in 

209  p 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

some  form  to  be  an  article  of  trade,  but  they  do  not  appear 
in  the  statistics,  unless  as  represented  by  soap,  which  has 
been  exported  to  the  amount  of  £57,000,  showing  an  increase 
of  £13,000. 

The  imports  are  catalogued  under  sixteen  clauses,  of 
which  it  seems  as  if  only  cotton  goods,  hardware,  cloth  and 
coal  are  likely  to  come  from  England.  The  last  item, 
however,  will,  happily  for  English  housekeepers,  be  shortly 
superseded,  as  even  the  railways  are  now  using  Turkish  coal 
from  the  mines  of  Zougouldak,  which  is  lower  in  price  and 
exempt  from  duty.  On  the  other  hand,  oil  engines,  used  in 
the  gardens  for  irrigation  purposes,  have  come  into  favour ; 
and  though  Germany  seems  to  have  supplied  most  of 
those  lately  imported,  the  Jerusalem  Consul,  Mr.  Dickson, 
expresses  the  opinion  that  "  manufacturers  at  home  would 
do  well  to  study  the  matter,  as  there  is  a  prospect  of  a 
growing  demand  for  such  engines  should  the  orange  trade 
continue  to  prosper  as  it  has  hitherto  done." 

There  is  an  element  of  humour  in  the  accounts  published, 
in  various  directions,  of  the  new  Jerusalem  waterworks. 
"  In  the  way  of  public  works,"  continues  our  Blue  Book, 
"  the  most  noteworthy  undertaking  during  the  year  1901 
was  that  for  supplying  Jerusalem  with  water,  which  was 
brought  in  iron  pipes  from  a  spring  situated  about  seven 
miles  distant  south  of  the  city  and  known  as  the  Sealed 
Fountain  of  Solomon's  times."  It  is  very  picturesque  to 
see  the  citizens  of  Jerusalem,  men  with  goatskins  carried 
on  their  backs,  or  with  donkeys  carrying  empty  kerosene 
cans,  pannier  fashion  ;  women  with  jars  on  their  heads, 
crowding  round  the  fountain  on  the  Bethlehem  road  to  fetch 
water,  in  the  rainy  season  without  price,  in  summer  to  buy  ; 
but  as  the  modern  aqueduct,  in  contrast  with  that  attributed 
to  Solomon,  is  a  wrought-iron  pipe  a  few  inches  in  diameter, 
laid,  for  a  considerable  part  of  its  way,  over  ground,  any 
little  London  boy  armed  with  a  straw  and  a  tin  tack  would 
quench  his  thirst  at  a  lower  rate  than  five  piastres  a  cubic 

210 


IRRIGATION  WHEEL  AND  CAMEL. 


ENGLISH  TRADE  AND  TRAVEL 

metre,  the  price  quoted  to  us  to-day.  Indeed,  there  are 
many  directions,  which  it  might  not  be  judicious  to  indicate, 
in  which  the  Street  Arab  could  "  give  points  "  to  his  Oriental 
cousin. 

Certainly  he  is  a  better  sportsman,  and  would  scorn  the 
Jerusalem  method  of  fighting,  juvenile  or  adult ;  knives  are 
drawn  on  very  small  provocation,  and  we  have  personally 
seen  a  man  disabled  for  taking  too  low  a  fare  for  a  carriage, 
which,  however,  is  only  trades-unionism;  or  for  trying  to 
draw  water  out  of  his  turn,  or  when  a  stronger  than  he  had 
a  mind  to  precede  him ;  but  these  again  are  only  the  methods 
of  Nature  herself.  Even  Whitechapel  would  cry  shame  on 
combatants  who,  after  fighting  at  arms'  length  for  some 
minutes,  their  long  sleeves  flying  in  the  air,  finally  close,biting 
each  other's  shoulders,  pulling  each  other's  hair,  scratching 
each  other's  faces  and  finally  rolling  together  in  the  dust, 
when  the  uppermost  will  seize  a  stone — the  Holy  Land 
formation  lends  itself  to  such  weapons — and  belabour  his 
adversary  on  head,  face,  hands  or  breast  as  most  easily 
accessible.  One  realizes  among  the  children  of  Nature  that 
the  traditions  of  the  Ring  have  certain  advantages,  and  we 
have  seen  the  English  horsewhip  produced  on  some  such 
occasions  with  considerable  satisfaction.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
same  lack  in  the  Arab  nature  which  makes  them  poor 
sportsmen,  which  impels  the  men  to  walk  about  hand  in 
hand,  and  kiss,  really  kiss  each  other  on  railway  platforms, 
Mark  Twain,  in  another  connexion,  remarks  that  a  man 
would  not  be  likely  to  kiss  one  of  the  women  of  this  country 
of  his  own  free  will  and  accord,  and  man,  he  argues,  is  a 
kissing  animal. 

It  is  said  that  when,  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
Europeans  began  to  flock  to  the  Holy  Land,  it  was  the 
fashion  for  the  ladies  of  the  country  to  faint  with  horror  at 
the  frank  impropriety  of  the  dress  of  the  men,  since,  one 
regrets  to  say,  widely  adopted  by  the  Syrians  themselves. 
The  author  of  Hadji  Baba  presents  their  views  on  the  sub- 

211 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

ject  of  Europeans  in  general  in  a  fashion  that  may  fairly 
afford  us  a  very  becoming  lesson  in  humility.  He  puts  his 
remark  into  the  mouth  of  the  king's  physician,  commenting 
upon  his  rival  the  Frank  doctor. 

"  The  lower  part  of  his  dress  was  particularly  improper, 
and  he  kept  his  boots  on  in  his  room,  without  any  con- 
sideration for  the  carpet  he  was  treading  upon,  which 
struck  me  as  a  custom  subversive  of  all  decorum.  I  found 
that  he  talked  our  language,  for  as  soon  as  he  saw  me  he 
asked  me  how  I  did,  and  then  immediately  remarked  that 
it  was  a  fine  day,  which  was  so  self-evident  a  truth  that  I 
immediately  agreed  to  it." 

A  truth  has  to  be  indeed  self-evident  before  an  Arab  will 
agree  to  it,  not  for  lack  of  wit  to  perceive  your  point,  but 
for  lack  of  inclination  to  speak  with  directness  in  any  con- 
nexion. In  general  the  answer  to  such  a  remark  (which, 
however,  no  one  makes  in  a  country  where  for  months 
together  it  is  never  anything  else  but  fine)  would  be 
"  Mashattah."  It  is  as  Allah  wills. 

Of  a  certain  "  tribe  of  people  called  Ingliz,"  he  relates  that 
"  they  are  the  most  unaccountable  people  on  earth,  who  live 
in  an  island  and  make  penknives.  They  are  powerful  in  ships, 
and  in  watches  and  broadcloth  unrivalled.  Allah,  the 
almighty  and  all-wise,  to  some  nations  giveth  wisdom,  and 
to  others  folly.  Let  us  bless  Him,  and  our  Prophet,  that 
we  are  not  born  to  eat  the  miseries  of  the  poor  English 
infidels,  but  can  smoke  our  pipes  in  quiet  on  the  shores  of 
our  peaceful  Bosphorus." 

Of  Americans  he  knows  but  little,  but  that  "  they  are  all 
infidels  as  much  as  those  of  the  old  world,  and  by  the 
blessing  of  Allah  will  all  grill  in  the  same  furnace." 

The  word  "  traveller,"  as  used  in  Palestine,  has  gained  in 
extension,  and  signifies  neither  a  commission  agent  nor  one 
entitled  to  drink  at  a  public-house  within  church-going 
hours  on  a  Sunday.  In  Jerusalem  it  is  used  in  opposition 
to  "  pilgrim."  The  traveller,  as  a  rule,  is  British  or  American ; 

212 


ENGLISH  TRADE  AND  TRAVEL 

he  frequents  the  hotel  rather  than  the  hospice  ;  he  dines — 
probably  sleeps — before  visiting  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  He 
is  no  lineal  descendant  of  Arculf  or  Saewulf  or  Felix 
Fabri.  He  brings  little  information,  and  what  he  takes 
away  is  derived  from  the  guide  book  or  even  from  the 
dragoman.  He  commonly  speaks  no  language  but  his  own, 
and  is  reduced,  for  further  association,  to  the  city  Christian. 
Few  have  loved  and  therefore  observed  and  known  the  East 
like  Lady  Burton,  and  on  this  point  she  writes,  "  The  Afgan, 
the  Kurd,  the  Mogharibeh,  the  Bedawin,  are  superior  to  the 
City  Moslems,  and  the  City  Moslems  are  superior  to  the 
Jews  and  the  City  Christians," — meaning  of  course  the  con- 
verts, not  those  who  were  Christians  centuries  before 
Christianity  reached  Great  Britain.1 

Canon  Dalton  has  observed  the  ways  of  the  English 
traveller.  "  In  former  days  no  one  went  to  Palestine  unless 
he  was  desirous  of  enlarging,  or  giving  reality  to,  the  impres- 
sions he  had  derived  by  study  at  home.  But  now  as  far  as 
the  majority  of  the  English-speaking  visitors  are  concerned 
it  is  not  so.  ...  The  religious  feelings  of  some  few  are 
undoubtedly  stirred  sympathetically  by  the  hurried  con- 
templation of  the  sacred  places  of  the  Greeks  and  Latins, 
but  others  are  moved  in  quite  another  way."  He  then  re- 
lates the  case  of  an  intelligent  and  distinguished  officer,  who 
attempted  to  discourage  him  from  going  to  Palestine,  be- 

1  This  is  a  point  on  which  Lady  Burton  is  equally  explicit.  "  The 
fresh  and  ardent  missionary's  usual  manner  of  accosting  a  Syrian 
is,  "  Do  you  know  Jesus  ?  "  The  Syrian  receives  him  courteously 
and  answers  him  affably,  but  the  moment  his  back  is  turned  he 
bursts  out,  "  May  Allah  burn  his  mother.  Know  Him  !  I  should 
think  we  did,  better  than  he  does.  Was  not  He  born  among  us, 
lived  among  us,  died  among  us  and  for  us,  and  spoke  our  own  lan- 
guage— was  He  not  one  of  our  own  people  ?  Who  would  know  Him 
if  we  don't  ?  " 

A  missionary  naively  tells  the  following  story  in  one  of  the  C.M.S. 
reports,  "  I  asked  a  man  what  he  would  say  to  the  Lord  Jesus  when 
He  came  in  judgment.  He  smiled  and  replied  gently,  '  I  will  say 
"  welcome  "  to  Him.'  " 

213 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

cause,  he  said,  "  after  beholding  the  various  surroundings  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  you  will  find  it  hard  to  believe  in  the 
truth  of  the  Christian  religion  at  all."  "  The  truth  is,"  Canon 
Dalton  regrets,  "  such  persons,  in  their  hurry,  do  not  pene- 
trate beyond  the  exterior  to  that  which  lies  beneath.  They 
are  in  reality  doing  themselves  just  what  they  blame  those 
whom  they  call  superstitious  for  doing  in  another  way. 
They  are  slaves  to  an  external  materialism.  If,  for  instance, 
they  make  the  descent  to  the  wondrous  ravine  of  the  Jordan, 
unlike  anything  else  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  past  the  three- 
fold interesting  site  of  the  prehistoric,  the  Jewish  and  the 
Herodian  Jericho,  haunted  by  martial  memories  of  Joshua's 
raid  with  the  vanguard  of  the  Beni  Israel,  and  by  those  of 
more  than  one  romantic  and  picturesque  episode  belonging 
to  the  prophetic  school,  by  memories  of  the  Egyptian 
Cleopatra,  of  Herod's  funeral  that  here  wound  its  way,  of 
Dives  and  Lazarus  and  the  last  journey  of  Jesus,  of  the 
Essenes  and  the  early  Christians,  and  of  much  else,  these 
persons  carry  away  chiefly  a  remembrance  of  the  roughness 
and  aridity  of  the  road  thither,  and  of  the  smallness  of  the 
muddy  Jordan  stream  when  they  reached  it,  and  are  apt  to 
consider  the  river  itself,  as  Naaman  at  first  did,  a  fraud."  l 

Mark  Twain,  for  ah1  his  humanness  and  tolerance,  has  also 
something  to  say  of  the  English-speaking  traveller  ;  among 
other  points  as  to  his  occasional  barbarity.  He  describes 
how  the  poor,  broken-down,  galled,  saddle-sore  horses  were 
brutally  overridden,  that  the  Sabbatarian  might  not  have 
it  on  his  conscience  that  he  had  travelled  on  Sunday. 

"  We  pleaded  for  the  tired,  ill-treated  horses,  and  tried  to 
show  that  their  faithful  service  deserved  kindness  in  return, 
and  their  hard  lot  compassion.  But  when  did  self-righteous- 
ness know  the  sentiment  of  pity  ?  What  were  a  few  long 
hours  added  to  the  hardships  of  some  overtaxed  brutes 
when  weighed  against  the  peril  of  those  human  souls  ?  It 
was  not  the  most  promising  party  to  travel  with,  and  hope 

1  The  City  and  the  Land,  217-218. 
214 


ENGLISH  TRADE  AND  TRAVEL 

to  gain  a  higher  veneration  for  religion  through  the  example 
of  its  devotees.  They  lecture  our  shortcomings  unsparingly, 
and  every  night  they  call  us  together  and  read  to  us  chapters 
from  the  Testament  that  are  full  of  gentleness,  of  charity,  of 
mercy,  and  then  all  the  day  they  stick  to  their  saddles,  clear 
up  to  the  summits  of  these  rugged  mountains  and  clear  down 
again." 

He  resents,  moreover,  the  conduct  of  the  "  lost  tribes  of 
America  "  upon  their  arrival  in  the  Holy  Land,  as  one 
equally  resents  the  conduct  of  the  "  lost  tribes  "  of  England. 
The  native  accepts  them  all  together  as  English-speaking, 
just  as  the  observant  among  other  Churches  accept  them 
altogether  as  "  Protestants,"  till  one  has  come  to  feel  the 
presence  of  the  English  or  the  Americans  an  anxiety,  and 
"  Protestant  "  a  term  of  reproach. 

Yet  one  is  ready  to  say  with  Mr.  Clemens,  "  I  have  said  I 
like  them,  and  I  do  like  them — but  every  time  they  read  me 
a  scorcher  of  a  lecture  I  mean  to  talk  back  in  print."  He 
talks  back  further,  justly  enough,  on  the  subject  of  their 
relic-mongering  and  on  that  of  their  appearance  ;  on  the 
stale  old  superstition  which  enforces  blue  spectacles,  and 
green  umbrellas,  the  heating  and  superfluous  "  rag  wrapped 
round  and  round  their  hats  and  dangling  down  their  backs  " 
—the  short  stirrups,  the  flapping  elbows,  the  ladies  with  a 
schism  about  the  waist.  "  When  one  sees  this  outrageous 
picture  exposed  to  the  light  of  day,  he  is  amazed  that  the 
gods  do  not  get  out  their  thunderbolts  and  destroy  them 
off  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  would  not  let  any  such  caravan 
go  through  a  country  of  mine."  What  does  not  amaze  one 
is  that  the  very  Arabs  have  learnt  the  phrase  "  V Anglais 
pour  rire." 

"  Few  countries  are  more  travelled  in  than  Palestine," 
says  M.Clermont  Ganneau,  "  and  in  few  are  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people  less  known.  We  may  truly  say  that 
the  population  of  Oceania,  of  the  extreme  East,  of  Central 
Asia,  of  India,  of  Egypt,  and  even  of  the  Bedawin  tribes 

215 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

east  of  the  Jordan  are  now  more  familiar  to  us  than  that 
of  this  little  corner  of  the  earth  so  often  trodden  by  European 
travellers.  Tourists,  pilgrims  and  savants  pour  into  the 
country,  but  all,  nearly  without  exception,  for  different 
reasons  neglect  to  notice  and  to  render  any  account  of  the 
only  thing  which  is  entirely  fresh  and  untouched — the 
natives  of  the  place." 

He  proceeds  to  ascribe  much  of  this  ignorance  to  the  mode 
of  travelling  to  which  the  European  is  condemned  in  Pales- 
tine. "  He  has  to  hand  himself  over  to  the  mercy  of  the 
inevitable  dragoman,  an  obstructive  animal,  peculiar  to  the 
social  fauna  of  the  Levant,  and  combining  the  functions  of 
interpreter,  maitre  d'hotel,  guide  and  courier.  .  .  .  While  on 
the  Nile  he  is  kept  in  his  place  ;  as  a  servant  in  Syria  he 
becomes  a  master  and  a  despot.  An  amusing  picture  might 
be  drawn  of  the  misfortunes  of  those  who  have  become  the 
prey  of  these  gentry,  but  I  will  merely  mention  the  great 
drawback  to  their  presence,  viz.  that  it  hinders  all  direct 
contact  with  the  peasants  and  has  the  effect  of  a  scarecrow 
on  the  suspicious  people  whose  confidence  is  of  supreme 
value  to  the  investigator." 

Dragoman  imposition  is  not  a  new  feature  of  Palestine 
travel.  Maundrell  (1697)  describes  those  in  attendance  on 
his  party  as  insisting  on  their  hiring  donkeys  at  five  ducats 
which  they  could  buy  anywhere  else  at  two. 

"  For  myself,"  he  remarks,  "  who  had  hitherto  ridden  on 
a  camel,  and  had  no  intention  of  changing,  I  desired  they 
would  tell  me  how  I  could  ride  a  camel  and  an  ass  at  the  same 
time.  The  governor  [of  Gaza]  decided  in  our  favour,  and 
ordered  that  we  should  not  be  forced  to  hire  any  asses  from 
the  moucres." 

»•  That  there  are  honest  and  well  behaved  dragomans,  men 
to  whom  the  tourist  should  feel  grateful  for  much  intelligent, 
kindly  and  often  self-sacrificing  help  and  companionship, 
few  would  presume  to  deny,  but  it  is  equally  futile  to  deny 
that  there  are  others,  especially  among  the  younger  ones, 

216 


VIA  DOI.OROSA. 


ENGLISH  TRADE  AND  TRAVEL 

whose  insolence,  arrogance  and  ignorance  are  quite  suf- 
ficient not  only  to  deter  the  unwary  traveller  from  repeating 
his,  especially  her,  visit,  but  from  encouraging  that  of  others. 

In  1895  it  was  ordered  by  the  Government  that  all  Jeru- 
salem dragomans  should  pass  an  examination  as  to  what 
they  are  to  tell  visitors  to  the  Holy  Places,  but  even  a  cer- 
tificate from  a  Mussulman  effendi  is  not  entirely  satis- 
factory as  a  guarantee  of  information  on  Bible  history  or 
the  discoveries  of  European  archaeologists.  Moreover,  the 
tourist  in  this,  as  in  much  else,  has  himself  to  blame.  So 
long  as  he  is  content  to  accept  such  statements  as  that  the 
Ten  Commandments  were  ordained  at  the  Church  of  the 
Paternoster,  that  our  Lord  was  tempted  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  that  the  Sacred  Body  lay  three  days  and  three  nights 
upon  the  Stone  of  Anointing,  that  the  Ark  of  the  Deluge 
rested  upon  the  Sakrah  (the  Rock  within  the  Temple  Area), 
that  the  stations  in  the  Via  Dolorosa  mark  the  places  where 
the  twelve  Apostles  stood  to  watch  our  Lord  go  by  1 — so 
long  will  such  statements  continue  to  be  made  and  so  long 
does  he  richly  deserve  this  and  anything  else  he  gets. 

Nor  can  one  exonerate  our  compatriots  in  another  and 
perhaps  even  more  serious  direction,  more  serious  because 
in  this  case  women  are  the  offenders,  although,  poor  things, 
they  have  occasionally  incurred  punishment  perhaps  even 
beyond  their  deserts.  One  could  hardly  have  supposed  it 
possible  that  it  could  occur  to  any  educated,  not  to  say 

1  In  the  Chapel  of  the  Apparition,  alleged  to  be  the  spot  where 
our  Lord  appeared  after  His  resurrection,  a  portion  of  the  Column 
of  Scourging  is  preserved  under  a  network,  in  order  to  protect  it 
from  the  hyper-devotion  of  pilgrims  and  the  desecration  of  tourists. 
In  order,  however,  that  the  former,  especially  the  Russians,  who  love 
to  salute  all  sacred  objects,  may  not  be  wholly  disappointed,  a  piece 
of  stick  is  kept,  with  which  the  column  may  be  touched,  so  that, 
although  at  second  hand  only,  it  may  be  saluted.  This  the 
dragoman  of  exceptional  ignorance  has  dubbed  the  "  Bod  of  Moses," 
and  in  Cook's  Guide,  corrected  by  a  well  known  orientalist, 
edition  1900,  incredible  as  the  statement  may  appear,  it  is  solemnly 
described  as  such  (p.  89). 

217 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

respectably  conducted,  Englishwoman  to  think  of  her 
dragoman  in  any  category  other  than  that  in  which  one 
places  her  cabman,  her  shopman,  her  footman,  or  any 
other  useful  person  who  ministers  to  her  necessities,  and  at 
first  sight  one  is  tempted  to  regard,  as  a  gratuitous  insult, 
the  serious  warning  which  an  English  clergyman,  travelling 
in  Palestine  in  the  year  1899,  has  thought  it  desirable  to 
issue  in  his  book  (Days  in  Galilee,  Rev.  A.  A.  Boddy, 
F.R.G.S.,  page  334).  Unhappily,  no  observant  woman  can 
remain  through  even  a  single  tourist  season  in  Jerusalem 
without  admitting  with  shame  and  confusion  that  the  con- 
duct of  her  sisters,  American  and  English,  has  exposed 
womanhood  to  the  disgrace  of  the  necessity  of  such  a  warning. 
Possibly  they  are  not  aware  that  what  might  pass  as  mere 
levity  in  a  country  of  other  manners  and  other  traditions 
cannot  fail  to  be  more  seriously  interpreted  where  reserve 
and  dignity  are  among  the  elementary  attributes  of  woman  ; 
and  that  what  at  home  might  possibly  pass  as  merely 
vulgar  is  here  otherwise  classified  and  otherwise  under- 
stood. From  time  to  time,  however,  one  hears  with  satis- 
tion  that  some  Englishman,  brother  or  friend,  has  inflicted 
reprisals  upon  the  dragoman  in  the  form  of  the  "  thrashing  " 
which  is  precisely  what  the  occasion  invites.  When  Lady 
Burton  wrote,  in  1875,  warning  young  ladies  not  to  marry 
Lebanon  "  princes,"  Englishwomen  had  not  yet  sunk  to  the 
lowest  stage  of  flirting  with  or  marrying  their  couriers,  but 
even  against  the  pseudo-prince  she  sounds  a  shrill  note  of 
warning. 

"  If  you  see  a  Syrian  with  a  handsome  face  pervading 
society  in  a  green  and  gold  jacket,  and  wearing  a  fez,  admire 
the  costume  and  be  hospitable  and  kind  to  the  wearer,  but 
do  not  fall  in  love  and  marry.  This  is  what  will  happen  if 
you  neglect  my  advice  ;  you  will  arrive  at  a  mud  hut  in  the 
Lebanon,  and  from  morning  to  night  you  will  be  surrounded 
by  native  women  who  look  upon  you  as  a  "  dispensation  of 
Providence." 

218 


Probably  in  these  days,  when  wider  experience  and  more 
liberal  education  has  opened  the  eyes  of  even  Syrians  in  mud 
huts,  the  unhappy  Englishwoman  might  think  herself  for- 
tunate if  she  were  looked  upon  as  anything  so  respectable. 

One  of  the  grievances  most  frequently  insisted  upon  by 
those  whose  visits  to  the  Holy  Places  are  without  true 
sympathy  and  breadth  of  view  is  the  "  disgrace  "  of  the 
presence  of  Turkish  officials  in  churches  held  by  Latins,  or 
Greeks,  or  both.  Have  we  not  soldiers  at  the  door  of  our 
king's  palace  or  even  at  the  Chapel  Royal  ?  have  we  not 
police  at  all  ceremonials  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  or  for  the 
matter  of  that  at  any  cathedral  or  museum  in  Europe  ? 
and  if  one  is  in  a  country  where  the  police  and  soldiers  are 
all  Turks  x  or  Arabs,  as  the  case  may  be,  whence  shall  the 
guardians  of  the  place  be  otherwise  provided  ?  Further, 
why  should  their  presence  be  a  reproach  ?  Is  it  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  admirable  order  which  characterizes  all 
the  Holy  Places  can  be  maintained  without  official  regula- 
tions and  enactments  ;  when  they  are,  not  only  at  festivals, 
but  all  the  year  round,  visited  daily  by  crowds  as  various 
as  those  of  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  ?  It  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  in  any  one  day  the  Latin  worshippers  may 
include  pilgrims  from  England  and  America  as  well  as  from 
every  country  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  ;  the  Greek 
mainly  from  Eastern  Europe,  from  Northern  Africa  and  from 
Western  Asia  ;  at  the  shrines  of  either,  one  finds  men  of 
every  colour,  almost  of  every  speech,  literally  from  "  China 
to  Peru,"  and  the  Russian  pilgrim  is  always  with  us.  Never 
have  we  heard  a  single  case  quoted  of  intentional  lack  of 
reverence,  or  breach  of  order  on  the  part  of  any  pilgrim, 
Greek  or  Latin,  no  matter  whence.  To  the  English  and 
American  alone  is  reserved  the  proud  distinction  of  such 


1  As  a  matter  of  fact,  only  the  superior  officers  are  Turks.  The 
Christian  subjects  of  Turkey  are  exempt  from  military  service  on 
payment  of  a  compensation  tax. 

219 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

conduct  as  daily  shames  us  here.  The  author  of  Six  Months 
in  Jerusalem  writes  : — 

"  I  never  saw  the  soldiers  exhibit  a  demeanour  so  frivolous 
and  scoffing  in  regard  to  the  Holy  Places  as  many  English 
churchfolk  thought  it  not  indecent  to  adopt ;  and  on  their 
own  principles  such  persons  might  have  felt  that  in  the 
presence  of  the  unbeliever  it  would  be  as  well  to  show  some 
loyalty  to  the  Life  which  in  its  courtesy  and  meekness  lies 
at  the  basis  of  Christendom  "  (p.  65). 

We  have  been  asked  by  a  Franciscan  custodian  whether 
"  Protestants "  habitually  wore  their  hats  in  their  own 
churches,  or  whether  it  is  only  on  the  most  sacred  spot  in 
Christendom  that  it  is  necessary  to  speak  somewhat  strongly 
before  an  Englishman  would  show  the  common  respect 
ordinarily  due  to  another  man's  house.  Lady  Burton 
observes  that  apparently  "  Gratitude  is  not  incumbent  upon 
a  tourist" ;  otherwise,  to  those  who  have  no  reverence  for 
the  Divine,  one  might  suggest  gratitude  to  the  human,  to 
the  Brothers  of  St.  Francis,  who,  on  behalf  of  Christendom, 
and  often  at  the  cost  of  their  blood,  have  held  and  main- 
tained the  Holy  Places  of  Palestine  for  700  years. 


220 


EL  AlCSA,    "THE   FURTHER   MOSQUE." 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE    MOSLEM   IN   JERUSALEM 

THE  SACHRA — TRADITIONS — DOME  OP  THE  ROCK — OMAR — 
His  MOSQUE — His  MAGNANIMITY — SALADIN — PALES- 
TINE AND  THE  ARAB 

THE  two  visits  made  by  Mahomet  into  Syria  were 
at  the  age  of  twelve  and  of  twenty-five  years, 
and  long  before  the  period  of  his  mission.  His  con- 
nexion with  the  Holy  City,  however,  rests  on  nothing 
so  material  as  a  journey  across  the  desert.  "  I  declare  the 
glory  of  Him  who  transported  His  servant  by  night,"  we 
read  in  the  Koran  (xvii.  1),  "from  the  Mosque  at  Mecca  to 
the  further  Mosque  at  Jerusalem,"  the  "  mosque  "  1  being 
taken,  be  it  remembered,  as  denoting  the  whole  Haram 
area,  the  site  of  the  Hebrew  temple  and  its  surroundings. 
The  prophet  rode  his  winged  steed,  Al  Bucak  (the  lightning), 
and  was  escorted  by  the  angel  Gabriel.  After  worshipping 
in  the  sacred  precincts  they  ascended  by  a  ladder  of  light, 
and,  passing  through  seven  heavens,  stood  in  the  presence 
of  Allah,  from  whom  Mahomet  received  instructions  which 
have  sanctified  for  ever  the  Rock  and  the  Haram  Area  in  the 
sight  of  all  the  faithful. 

This  is,  however,  for  the  Moslems,  by  no  means  the  begin- 
ning of  the  history  of  the  Sachra.  They  have  a  tradition 

1  The  term  "  Mosque  of  Omar,"  to  denote  the  Dome  of  the  Rock, 
is  used  only  by  tourists,  irresponsible  guide-books,  and  dragomans. 
The  Mosque  of  Omar  is  a  very  small  mosque  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

221 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

that  Jerusalem,  El  Kuds,  was  built  by  angels,  who  were 
pilgrims  to  the  sacred  rock  2,000  years  before  Adam  ;  that 
the  ark  of  Noah  rested  there,  as  is  proved  by  the  visit  of  the 
dove  with  a  leaf  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  they  believe 
it  to  have  been  the  scene,  not  only  of  Abraham's  sacrifice 
(though  of  Ishmael  not  Isaac),  but  also  of  Jacob's  vision,  as 
well  as  of  Araunah's  threshing-floor. 

"  This  stone  of  the  Sachra  is  that  which  God — be  He 
exalted  and  glorified — commanded  Moses  to  institute  as 
the  Kiblah.  After  this  command  had  come  down,  and 
Moses  had  instituted  the  Sachra  as  Kiblah,  he  himself  lived 
but  a  brief  time,  for  of  a  sudden  was  his  life  cut  short." 

It  does  not  appear  that  its  association  with  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant  has  any  special  interest  for  them,  although  they 
too  have  a  story  of  a  lost  ark,  originally  sent  down  from 
Paradise  with  Adam,  from  whom  it  descended  to  Seth  and 
Abraham,  from  whom  Ishmael  received  it  as  the  eldest  son. 
When  it  came  to  Kedar  it  was  claimed  by  Jacob,  hence  its 
possession  by  the  younger  branch.  One  tradition  asserts 
that,  together  with  the  rod  of  Moses,  it  is  now  lying  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  another  that  it  is  buried 
beneath  the  rock  itself. 

The  following  ejaculations  are  said  to  be  incumbent  upon 
all  visitors  to  the  mosque.  As  the  worshipper  enters,  he 
says,  "  0  Lord,  pardon  my  sins  and  open  to  me  the  doors 
of  Thy  mercy  "  ;  and  as  he  goes  out,  "  0  Lord,  pardon  my  sins 
and  open  to  me  the  doors  of  Thy  grace."  He  must  always 
keep  the  rock  on  his  right  hand,  thus  reversing  the  ritual  of 
Mecca.  As  he  enters  the  cave  containing  the  altars  (probably 
Crusading)  where  David  and  Solomon,  and  the  niches  where 
Abraham  and  Elijah,  are  said  to  have  prayed,  he  says,  "  O 
God,  pardon  the  sinners  who  come  here,  and  relieve  the  injured,'1'' 
words  worthy  of  notice,  as  it  is  often  alleged  that  the  Moslem 
faith  teaches  no  intercession  for  others.  The  Sachra,  like 
the  well  known  spot  in  the  Greek  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre, 'is  the  centre  of  the  world  as  well  as  eighteen  miles 

222 


THE    MOSLEM    IN   JERUSALEM 

nearer  heaven  than  any  other  spot  on  the  earth's  surface, 
and  beneath  it  is  the  source  of  all  the  sweet  water  which 
flows  over  all  lands. 

They  have  a  saying,  which,  however,  sounds  as  if  of  Jewish 
origin,  that  "  Palestine  is  the  centre  of  the  world,  Jerusalem 
the  centre  of  Palestine,  the  Temple  the  centre  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Holy  of  Holies  the  centre  of  the  Temple,  the  Ark  the 
centre  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  in  front  of  the  Ark  was  a 
stone  called  the  Foundation  of  the  World." 

The  Sachra,  when  a  threshing-floor,  was  owned  by  two 
Moslems  who  were  brothers,  one  married,  the  other  single. 
One  August  night,  when  the  corn  had  been  threshed  out  and 
divided  between  them,  each  was  sleeping  by  his  heap  to 
guard  it,  as  is  still  the  custom.  In  the  course  of  the  night, 
the  married  brother,  lying  awake  and  reflecting  on  the 
harvest,  said  to  himself,  "  I  am  now  a  rich  man ;  I  have  wife 
and  children  as  well  as  abundance  of  corn.  My  poor  brother 
is  lonely :  why  should  I  have  so  much  more  than  he  ?  At 
least  I  can  make  it  up  to  him  in  corn,"  and  so  he  removed  a 
portion  from  his  own  heap  to  that  of  his  sleeping  brother. 
Soon  after,  the  brother  in  his  turn  awoke,  and  he  bethought 
himself  how  much  more  he  possessed  than  was  needful  for 
one  who  had  neither  wife  nor  child.  Were  he  to  offer  a 
share  to  his  brother,  he  might  refuse  to  accept  it,  so,  rising, 
he  took  a  large  portion  of  his  heap  and  added  it  to  that  of 
his  sleeping  brother.  In  the  morning  each  was  surprised  to 
find  his  share  what  it  had  been  originally,  but  God  had 
marked  the  deed,  and  decided  to  make  the  Sachra  the  place 
of  prayer  for  all  the  world. 

It  is  here,  moreover,  that  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion the  Angel  Israfil  will  blow  the  last  trumpet !  In  the 
east  wall  of  the  Haram  Area  is  a  fragment  of  a  pillar  built  in 
horizontally,  as  often  occurs  in  Jerusalem,  where  any  piece 
of  ancient  masonry  is  made  to  serve  any  purpose  convenient 
at  the  moment,  and  which,  moreover,  projects  considerably 
beyond  the  face  of  the  wall.  From  this  projection  a  thread, 

223 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

fine  as  a  hair,  will  be  cast  over  to  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
across  which  all  men  will  pass  for  judgment,  Jesus  sitting  on 
the  Jerusalem  side,  Mahomet  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  The 
faithful  will  pass  in  safety,  the  faithless  will  fall  into  the 
Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  beneath.  But  there  is  an  intermediate 
class  upon  whom  the  Prophet  will  have  mercy,  and,  so  says 
an  ancient  legend,  will  himself  pass  over  in  the  form  of  a 
sheep  so  as  to  shelter  them  as  fleas  in  his  fleece.  A  gloss 
suggests  the  variant  that  it  is  in  his  sheepskin  coat  that 
they  will  find  refuge.  Judging  from  the  analogy  of  such 
coats  as  are  worn  by  the  fellahin,  there  will  be  no  failure  of 
accommodation . 

There  is  a  tendency  in  many  books  of  travel  to  belittle 
the  beauty  of  the  Dome  of  the  Rock.  It  is  satisfactory  to 
quote  the  words  of  two  recognized  authorities  on  Oriental 
subjects.  Professor  Hayter  Lewis  writes  :— 

"It  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings 
existing,  and  I  cordially  agree  with  these  eloquent  words  of 
Mr.  Ferguson,  '  The  one  thing  I  was  least  prepared  for  was 
the  extreme  beauty  of  the  interior  of  the  building.  I  re- 
member perfectly  the  effect  of  the  Taj  Mahal  and  the  other 
great  imperial  tombs  of  Agra  and  Delhi,  and  I  am  tolerably 
familiar  with  most  of  the  tombs  and  tomb-like  buildings  in 
other  countries.  But  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  the 
Dome  of  the  Rock  surpasses  them  all.  There  is  an  elegance 
of  proportion,  and  an  appropriateness  of  detail,  which  does 
not  exist  in  any  other  building  I  am  acquainted  with.  Its 
mosaics  are  complete  and  beautiful  in  design,  and  its  painted 
glass,  though  comparatively  modern  (sixteenth  century),  is 
more  beautiful  than  any  in  this  country.  These,  combined 
with  the  mystery  of  the  Great  Rock,  occupying  the  whole 
floor  of  the  sanctuary,  make  up  a  whole,  so  far  as  I  know, 
unrivalled  in  the  world.'  ' 

Perhaps  the  strongest  impression  which  one  carries  away 
is  not  that  of  the  marvellous,  the  perhaps  unrivalled,  richness 
and  harmony  of  colouring,  the  dignified  repose  of  form — a 

224 


repose  so  absorbing  in  its  grace  of  unity  that  one  is  deprived 
of  the  power  of  attention  to  detail — but  rather  a  sense  of 
the  extraordinary  contrast  between  the  perfection  of  the 
work  of  art  and  the  simplicity  of  the  work  of  nature  ;  the 
glory  of  light  and  colour,  of  rich  material,  the  pride  of 
invention,  the  triumph  of  painter  and  craftsman,  the  liber- 
ality of  the  rich,  the  praise  of  the  mighty  dead,  mellowed 
by  centuries  of  waiting,  sanctified  by  generations  of  wor- 
shippers, baptized  by  the  blood  of  thousands,  expressive  of 
the  hopes,  aspirations,  prayers  of  millions  of  our  fellow- 
creatures,  and  all  for  what  ? — a  piece  of  bare  brown  rock, 
rudely  cropping  out  of  the  ground,  sacred  alike  to  Moslem, 
Jew  and  Christian,  to  the  readers  of  the  Koran,  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  of  the  New.  Description  here  would  be 
even  more  futile  than  elsewhere  ;  for  magnificent  and  impres- 
sive as  is  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  even  from  the  point  of  view 
of  art,  it  is  to  this  shock  of  contrast  that  one  is  largely 
indebted  for  the  emotion  it  cannot  fail  to  inspire  in  any 
soul  sensitive  to  beauty,  alive  with  imagination,  responsive 
to  the  suggestion  of  memory. 

Here  is  no  treasure  encased  in  shrine  of  marble  like  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  hung  with  silken  tapestry  like  the  Cave  at 
Bethlehem,  making  difficult  appeal  to  faith  like  the  footstep 
on  the  Mount  of  Ascension,  enclosed  in  gold  and  precious 
stones  like  a  dozen  relics  at  a  dozen  altars  in  the  churches  of 
the  Holy  City,  but  the  bare  bosom  of  our  mother  earth, 
prototype  of  all  that  is  most  sacred,  all  which  most  cries 
aloud  for  reverence  in  the  common  things  of  daily  life.1 

While  Mohammed  was  collecting  his  earliest  followers  Syria 

1  The  Sachra,  a  bare,  rugged,  unhewn  piece  of  rock,  roughly  a 
parallelogram,  60  feet  by  45  feet,  standing  about  4  feet  9£  inches 
above  the  marble  pavement  at  its  highest  point,  and  one  foot  at  its 
lowest  ;  it  is  one  of  the  missal  strata  (i.e.  the  upper  of  the  two  strata 
which  form  the  Jerusalem  plateau) ;  it  is  hard  and  of  a  grey,  in 
places  of  a  reddish,  colour,  and  has  a  dip  of  twelve  degrees  in  a  direc- 
tion of  eighty-five  degrees  east  of  north.  The  surface  of  the  rock 
bears  the  marks  of  hard  treatment  and  rough  chiselling. 

225  Q 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

had  been  wrested  from  the  Eastern  Empire  by  Chosroes, 
King  of  Persia  ;  but  while  one  Arab  was  making  a  new  reli- 
gion, another  was  creating  a  new  empire,  and  in  634,  twelve 
years  after  the  Hegira,  Jerusalem  fell  into  the  hands  of  Omar, 
the  second  of  the  Kaliphs,  a  man  whose  political  energy  had 
welded  a  homogeneous  nation  out  of  the  immemorial  nomadic 
desert  tribes  of  Arabia. 

The  monarch  who  had  made  emperors  to  tremble  on  then: 
thrones,  entered  the  Holy  City,  not  as  a  conqueror  but  as  a 
pilgrim — attired  in  simple  Bedawi  costume,  a  sheepskin  coat 
and  coarse  cotton  skirt.  The  story  is  told  in  the  Muihir  al 
Ghirdm  (The  Exciter  of  Desire,  i.e.  to  visit  the  Holy  City),  an 
unpublished  work  by  a  native  of  Jerusalem,  written  in 
A.D.  1351.1 

"  Now  at  that  time  there  was,  over  the  Rock  of  the  Holy 
City,  a  great  dung-heap,  which  completely  masked  the 
Mihrab  of  David,  and  which  same  the  Christians  had  put 
here  in  order  to  offend  the  Jews,  and,  further,  even  the 
Christian  women  were  wont  to  throw  here  their  cloths  and 
clouts,  so  that  it  was  all  heaped  up  therewith.  .  .  .  Now 
when  Omar  had  come  to  the  Holy  City  and  conquered  it, 
and  saw  how  there  was  a  dung-heap  over  the  Rock,  he 
regarded  it  as  horrible,  and  ordered  that  it  should  be  entirely 
cleared.  And  to  accomplish  this  they  forced  the  Nabath- 
aeans  2  of  Palestine  to  work  without  pay.  On  the  authority 
of  Jabir  ibn  Naf  ir,  it  is  related  that  when  Omar  first  exposed 
the  Rock  to  view  by  removing  the  dung-heap,  he  commanded 
them  not  to  pray  there  until  three  showers  of  heavy  rain 
should  have  fallen." 

The  spitefulness  of  the  Christians  had  laid  up  for  them  a 
retribution  which  is  a  lasting  sorrow  to  the  whole  of  Christen- 

1  The  passage  is  quoted  in  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  Guy  Le 
Strange,  1890. 

2  The  Nabathaeans  were  a  tribe  of  heathen  Arabs  who  were  settled 
in  Petra  about  300  B.C.,  whence  they  penetrated  into  Palestine — 
according  to  some  authorities,  the  ancestors  of  the  Samaritans. 

226 


THE    MOSLEM   IN   JERUSALEM 

dom,  as  we  learn  from  another  historian,  the  Greek  Theo- 
phanes  : * — 

"  Anno  Domini  635.  In  this  year  Omar  began  to  restore 
the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  for  the  building,  in  truth,  no  longer 
then  stood  firmly  founded,  but  had  fallen  to  ruin.  Now 
when  Omar  inquired  the  cause,  the  Jews  answered,  saying, 
'  Unless  thou  throw  down  the  Cross  which  stands  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  the  building  of  the  Temple  will  never  be 
firmly  founded.'  Thereupon  Omar  threw  down  the  Cross  at 
that  place  in  order  that  the  building  might  be  made  firm ; 
and  for  the  same  cause  innumerable  crosses  in  other  quarters 
these  enemies  of  Christ  did  likewise  overthrow." 

Deplorable  as  was  such  a  retribution,  we  nevertheless  owe 
much  to  the  magnanimity  and  liberality  of  the  conqueror. 
Eutychius  2  is  the  authority  for  the  well  known  story  of  the 
courtesy  of  Omar  in  relation  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

"  Omar  entered  the  city  and  sat  down  with  Sophronius  in 
the  innermost  part  (inpenetrali)  of  the  Church  of  the  Sepul- 
chre. The  time  of  prayer  approached,  and  Omar  wished 
to  pray.  '  Pray  here,'  said  Sophronius.  '  Not  here,' 
answered  Omar.  Sophronius  now  led  him  into  the  Basilica 
(ad  templum),  and  spread  a  carpet  in  the  middle  of  it  that 
Omar  might  pray.  As  he  again  refused  the  Patriarch  led 
him  outside  to  the  steps  by  the  entrance  to  the  Church  of 
Constantine,  looking  towards  the  East.  Here  Omar  prayed 
alone.  Afterwards  he  asked,  '  Do  you  know  why  I  would 
not  pray  inside  ?  '  '  How  could  I  know  that  ?  '  said 
Sophronius.  Omar  replied,  '  If  I  had  prayed  inside  the 
church,  it  would  have  been  lost  to  you.  After  my  death  the 
Moslems  would  have  taken  it  from  you  :  for  they  would 
soon  have  said,  "  Here  Omar  prayed  !  " 

Omar  then  gave  to  the  Patriarch  a  written  document  by 

1  Chronographia  Bonn.,  1839,  vol.  i.  p.  524. 

2  Annals  of   Eutychius   Patriarch   of   Alexandria,   d.    940.     The 
quotation  is  from  Dr.  Max  von  Berchem,  who  translates  from  Selden's 
Latin  version,  vol.  ii.  284-90. 

227 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

which  he  decreed  that  the  Moslems  might  pray  only  singly 
on  the  steps  ;  further,  "  that  they  should  neither  assemble 
there  for  prayer,  nor  the  voice  of  the  Muezzin  over  there 
summon  them  to  it." 

At  Bethlehem,  too,  we  owe  much  to  this  same  magna- 
nimity. The  Arabic  historian,  Yakut,  writing  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  relates  : — 

"  Bait  Lahm  is  the  place  where  Jesus  was  born.  .  .  . 
There  is  here  a  church  the  like  of  which  is  none  other  in  the 
country  round.  When  the  Kaliph  Omar  was  come  to  Jeru- 
salem, a  monk  of  Bait  Lahm  approached  him  and  said,  '  I 
would  obtain  mercy  of  thee  for  Bait  Lahm.'  Said  Omar,  '  I 
know  naught  of  the  place,  but  would  fain  see  it.'  When  Omar 
was  come  there,  he  said  to  the  people,  '  Ye  shall  have 
mercy  and  safe  conduct,  but  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  that 
in  every  place  where  there  are  Christians  we  should  erect  a 
mosque.'  The  monk  answered,  '  There  is  in  Bait  Lahm  an 
arched  building,  which  is  built  so  as  to  be  turned  towards 
your  Kiblah  ;  take  this,  therefore,  and  make  of  it  a  mosque 
for  the  Muslims,  and  do  not  destroy  the  church.'  So  Omar 
spared  the  church,  saying  his  prayer  in  that  arched  building 
and  made -of  it  a  mosque.  .  .  .  The  Muslims  have  never 
ceased  to  visit  Bait  Lahm  in  pilgrimage,  and  go  to  this 
arched  building  to  make  their  prayers  therein  one  generation 
after  another,  which  same  is  the  building  of  Omar." 

After  Omar,  the  hero  of  Arab  history — perhaps,  one  might 
almost  say,  of  Arab  literature — is  the  great  Haroun  er 
Raschid  ("  the  Just "),  contemporary  with  Charlemagne,  and 
with  our  own  King  Egbert.  Those  were  the  days  of  a  united 
Islam,  an  Islam  which  extended  from  India  to  Egypt,  which 
traded  with  China,  which  studied  philosophy,  which  sent  an 
elephant  to  the  emperor  and  gave  The  Arabian  Nights  to 
the  schoolboys  of  a  thousand  years.  With  a  magnanimity 
which  was  worthy  of  Omar,  which  perhaps  is  unparalleled 
in  the  world's  history,  which  puts  to  shame  the  prejudices 
and  bigotries  of  creeds  and  nationalities,  Haroun,  ruler  of 

228 


THE    MOSLEM    IN  JERUSALEM 

Islam,  sent,  it  is  related,  to  Charlemagne,  ruler  of  Christen- 
dom, the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  with  an  invitation  to 
rebuild  the  churches  of  the  Holy  Land. 

But  these  great  rulers  passed  away  and  Islam  and 
Christendom  alike  were  split  up  by  sects  and  local  prejudices  ; 
and  Palestine  became  the  battlefield,  first  of  Moslem  with 
Moslem,  Egyptian,  Arab,  Turk,  and  then  finally  of  Christen- 
dom and  Islam  as  such. 

A  country  which  was  little  more  than  a  perpetual  battle- 
field was  no  place  for  peaceful  pilgrims.  The  hour  came 
and  the  man ;  the  humble  monk  kneeling  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  heard  the  voice,  "  Arise,  Peter.  The  time  is  come 
that  My  servants  should  be  succoured,  and  that  My  Holy 
Places  should  be  free." 

In  four  years  Godfrey,  the  Galahad  of  the  Crusades,  knelt 
on  that  same  spot  in  thanksgiving  that  Jerusalem  was 
restored  to  Christendom  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  free. 
But  a  year  later,  at  only  forty  years  of  age,  he  was  brought 
to  the  sacred  spot  for  which  he  had  given  his  life  and  laid 
at  the  foot  of  Calvary.1  The  learned  Q.uaresimus  wrote  his 
fitting  epitaph — 

Hie  jacet  inclitus  dux  Godefridus 

De  Bull  on,  qui  totam  istam  terrain 

Acquisivit  cultui  Christiano, 

Cujus  anima  regnet  cum  Christo.     Amen. 

Saladin,  too,  had  in  him  something  of  the  large-heartedness 
of  Omar  and  Haroun,  but  the  incidents  which  are  recorded 
as  illustrating  his  gentleness  and  patience  are  of  a  nature  to 
exhibit  him  as  the  worthy  enemy  rather  than  as  the  friend 

1  As  the  savagery  of  the  Jews  who  accompanied  Chosroes  was 
especially  vented  on  monuments  erected  by  Christian,  reverence,  so 
Christian  jealousy  has  been  expended  on  the  destruction  of  the  tombs 
of  Godfrey  and  Baldwin  I.  When  the  Greeks  took  possession  of 
the  Chapel  of  Adam  in  1808  they  removed  all  traces  of  these 
sacred  resting-places  lest  the  Latins  should  make  them  the  occasion 
of  claims  for  possession. 

229 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  the  Frank.  Colonel  Conder,  who  may  perhaps  have 
something  of  the  warrior's  appreciation  of  the  soldier  as 
well  as  the  man's  admiration  for  the  hero,  is  not  sparing  in 
his  eulogy : — 

"  Since  Omar  and  Mohammed  no  Moslem  like  Saladin 
had  arisen,  and  after  him  none  other  such  arose  .  .  . 
brave  and  just,  merciful  to  all,  tolerant  even  of  Latin  priests, 
and  wisely  prudent  as  well  as  determined  and  active. 
Among  all  who  opposed  him  he  found  but  one  who  was  his 
equal,  in  Richard  Lion- Heart,  the  hero  of  the  third  Crusade." 

If  to  speak  Arabic  makes  an  Arab,  then  the  inhabitants 
of  Judaea  are  Arabs,  but  in  no  other  sense.  The  Arab  was 
not  here  in  the  time  of  our  Lord.  He  is  to  Palestine  what 
the  Saxon  is  to  Britain.  Haroun  er  Raschid  was  contem- 
porary with  Egbert,  Selim  I,  who  brought  in  the  Turkish 
rule  with  Henry  VIII.  The  Arab  came  in  with  the  Kaliph 
Omar,  one  of  Mohammed's  earlier  converts,  and  what  is  left 
of  him  is  to  be  found  mainly  in  the  towns. 

'  The  odd  popular  prejudice,"  writes  Clermont  Ganneau 
(Q.S.  1875),  "  which  obstinately  believes  that  the  Mussulman 
Arabs,  who  became  masters  of  Syria  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Greek  troops,  took  altogether  the  place  of  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  are  in  fact  the  people  whom 
we  find  there  now,  cannot  be  too  strongly  combated." 

The  conquerors  imposed,  or  perhaps  only  introduced  a 
religious  enthusiasm.  These  new  immigrants,  like  their 
former  invaders  the  Jews,  were  also  the  sons  of  Abraham,  only 
that  they  descended  from  Ishmael  rather  than  from  Isaac, 
and  the  new  dogma  was  that  of  Mohammed  the  Camel  Driver, 
not  that  of  Jesus  the  Carpenter  in  whom  many  of  them 
believed.  They  disturbed  nothing  ;  they  found  a  decaying 
civilization,  the  sciences  and  arts  ;  the  architecture  and 
traditions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  which  to  these  children  of  the 
desert  were  of  no  account.  They  looked  for  revenue,  and 
here  revenue  could  come  only  from  the  soil.  Of  agriculture 
they  knew  nothing,  but  they  exacted  labour  from  those  who 

230 


THE    MOSLEM   IN   JERUSALEM 

did,  and  under  these  conditions  the  original  inhabitants 
remained,  and  to  a  great  extent,  like  the  Celtic  races  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  outlived  their  conquerors,  as  they 
had  also  outlived  the  Jew  and  the  Greek.  The  Crusades 
and  the  rule  of  the  Franks  have  left  their  traces  mainly  in 
stone,  though  here  and  there  one  meets,  in  the  most  unex- 
pected places,  with  fair-haired  and  red-haired  children  with 
the  blue  eyes  and  broad  palms  of  the  European. 

In  1517,  Jerusalem,  with  the  rest  of  Syria  and  Egypt, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  and  since  then  has 
formed  part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  In  the  year  1542 
Suleiman  restored  the  walls  of  the  city,  building  those 
portions  now  described  as  "  modern,"  though  contemporary 
with  Henry  VIII  of  England.  Since  then  the  Holy  City 
has  had  no  history  until  we  come  to  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  England  mysteriously  interfered  to  restore  her  to 
Turkey,  after  she  had  made  desperate  efforts  at  self -emanci- 
pation ;  and  when  the  Crimean  war  broke  out  as  the  result 
of  a  quarrel  as  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  dome  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Following  upon  this  we  have  the  arrival 
of  various  religious  bodies,  the  earliest  from  America ; 
England  sent  two  missionary  societies,  Germany  various 
bands  of  practical  philanthropists,  Roman  Catholic  Europe 
a  score  or  more  of  religious  Orders  to  supplement  the  work 
of  employing,  teaching,  nursing,  in  which  the  Franciscans 
had  been  already  employed  500  years.  Russia,  France, 
Italy,  Germany  have  raised  handsome  buildings  in  all  direc- 
tions till  Jerusalem  without  the  walls  is  a  more  extensive 
city  than  that  within.  Within  the  last  decade  England  too 
has  begun  to  erect  a  monument  not  unworthy  of  her  prestige, 
the  very  handsome  church  and  college  of  the  Anglican 
bishopric. 


231 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  MOSLEM  AS  A  CITIZEN 

ARAB  INFLUENCE  ON  EUROPE — AESTHETICISM — CURSING — 
ACUTENESS  —  LITERATURE  —  DRESS  —  ARISTOCRACY — 
FORMS  OF  PRAYER — TENETS  OF  THE  FAITH — PHILAN- 
THROPY —  INSTITUTIONS  —  HOSPITAL  AND  SISTERS — 
TRADITION — PILGRIMAGE  TO  TOMB  OF  MOSES 

WE  are  wont  to  forget  the  share  which  the  Arabs  have 
had  in  the  civilization  of  Europe.  The  very  words 
we  have  borrowed  from  their  language  are  themselves 
evidence  of  lessons  as  to  the  things  they  represent.  From 
Skeat  (p.  760),  we  may  take  the  following  examples  : 
admiral,  amulet,  artichoke,  alcove,  alcohol,  chemise,  cipher, 
camlet,  elixir,  lute,  magazine,  maltress,  mohair,  nadir,  sofa, 
shrub,  sarsenet,  saffron.  From  Damascus  we  received  the 
damson,  from  Ascalon  the  shalot,  from  Syria  generally  the 
maize.  Possibly  the  earliest  versions  known  to  Northern 
Europe  of  Aristotle,  Plato,  Galen,  Hippocrates  came  to  us 
from  a  Nestorian  Arab  physician,  who  died  in  876  A.D. 
The  china  and  metal  work  of  Europe  owe  much  to  Arabic 
influence;  Venetian  glass  is  copied  from  the  Syrian  art, 
beautiful  specimens  of  which  are  still  constantly  found. 
The  Arabic  numerals  facilitated  mathematics  all  over 
Europe,  the  study  of  mathematics  and  astronomy  was 
promoted  among  Latins  by  the  Syrian  Jacobites,  the  arts 
of  painting,  sculpture,  and  engraving  came  from  the  Arabs, 
while  the  ecclesiastical  art  of  the  Italian  churches  of  the 

232 


THE    MOSLEM    AS    A   CITIZEN 

time  of  Cimabue  may  be  seen  in  its  earlier  development  on 
the  walls  of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem. 

Spain  was  a  great  centre  for  the  dissemination  of  Oriental 
learning.  Science  studied  at  Cordova  and  in  Andalusia  had 
been  brought  thither  from  Bagdad.  The  troubadours  of 
Languedoc  sang  under  the  influence  of  Arab  poets,  who 
learnt  the  art  of  rhythm  from  the  cadences  of  the  earlier 
parts  of  the  Koran. 

The  aestheticism  of  the  Arab  is  externalized  in  language 
rather  than  in  plastic  art.  We  ventured  to  attempt  a 
defence  against  an  artist  friend,  who  condemned  Oriental 
art  as  rudimentary,  on  the  line  that  Jews  and  Moslems  alike, 
owing  to  the  conditions  of  their  religion,  lacked  practice  and 
opportunity  for  its  development.  We  were  met  by  the 
counter  argument  that  both  Moses  and  Mohammed,  anxious 
for  the  credit  of  their  followers,  diplomatically  forbade  any 
attempt  at  competition  in  directions  in  which  they  would 
inevitably  be  surpassed  by  those  of  other  nations. 

Except  in  the  "  fancy  work  "  executed  in  certain  schools, 
in  which  early  Victorian  combinations  and  aniline  dyes  are 
patriotically  perpetuated,  an  Arab  never  makes  a  mistake 
in  colouring.  From  the  red,  green  and  white  of  the  women 
of  Ramallah,  or  the  red,  blue  and  yellow  of  the  women  of 
Bethlehem,  from  the  red  sash,  or  blue  kumbaz  of  your 
donkey-boy,  or  the  orange  handkerchief  twisted  round  the 
scarlet  tarbush  of  your  cook,  up  to  the  mosaics  of  the 
Dome  of  the  Rock  or  the  decoration  of  the  Alhambra, 
the  Arab  never  strikes  a  false  note.  If  he  makes  a  carpet, 
the  two  ends  are  seldom  of  the  same  width  ;  if  he  builds  a 
house,  the  recesses,  doors,  windows  have  seldom  any  cor- 
respondence. The  Moslem — theoretically,  though  I  know 
of  many  exceptions — puts  no  pictures  on  his  wall,  but  away 
on  the  ceiling  twelve  feet  overhead  he  sketches  bold  com- 
binations from  the  alphabet  in  colours  of 'the  same  quality 
as  those  of  his  turban  or  kumbaz,  always  supposing  that  he 
is  left — literally — to  his  own  devices.  His  idea  of  adapting 

233 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

a  house  for  European  occupation  is  to  decorate  the  ceilings 
with  a  stencilled  design,  which  suggests  a  Nottingham  lace 
curtain  lined  with  washing-powder  blue,  or  Swiss  land^ 
scapes  upside  down. 

I  used  as  a  child  to  wonder  to  what  nationality  the 
furniture  belonged,  of  which  that  in  the  average  dolls'-house 
was  the  copy  ;  sideboards  and  wardrobes,  of  which  the 
greater  part  of  the  surface  was  devoted  to  decoration,  while 
a  minimum  of  drawer  or  cupboard  occupied  their  central 
anatomy  ;  chairs  upon  which  one  could  only  perch,  and 
tables  which  existed  mainly  for  the  liberal  exhibition  of  legs. 
Wherever  they  may  have  originated,  they  are  now  in  the 
Levant,  together  with  equally  impossible  upholstery  in 
striped  silk,  and  plush  of  designs  which,  originally  invented 
by  lady  novelists  in  descriptions  of  "  oriental  magnificence," 
were  produced  by  speculative  manufacturers,  and,  by  a 
process  of  inversion,  may  now  be  found  in  houses  where  a 
"  salon  "  is  reserved  for  visitors,  but  where  the  owners  tuck 
up  their  legs  and  smoke  narghillehs  in  the  leewan  as  soon 
as  the  visitors  have  departed.  Much  of  this  comes  from  the 
Lebanon,  which  is  practically  a  province  of  France,  and 
where  the  kind  of  French  taste  which  expresses  itself  in 
gilding  and  artificial  flowers  is  superimposed  upon  the 
Oriental  desire  for  display.  In  Jerusalem  it  exists  mainly 
among  the  inferior  officers  of  consulates,  where  Levantines 
and  Arabs  pose  as  Europeans,  modify  their  names,  and 
speak  French,  or  even  Italian,  with  the  muscular  relaxation 
which  in  English  we  call  "  a  cockney  accent,"  and  the 
criard  voice  which  never  fails  to  proclaim — literally,  loudly 
to  proclaim — the  secret  of  their  extraction.  The  men  pay 
calls  in  white  kid  gloves,  and  the  women  in  toilets  realized 
from  descriptions  in  the  ladies'  papers. 

But  to  return  to  the  original  proposition,  in  language  the 
Arab  is  an  aesthete.  He  not  only  has  an  immense  vocabu- 
lary from  which  to  select  the  precise  terms  in  which  to 
express,  not  his  thought  perhaps,  but  rather  the  phrase  in 

234 


ABSALOM'S  PILLAR. 


THE    MOSLEM   AS    A    CITIZEN 

which  best  to  conceal  it,  but  he  has  also  at  command  an 
extraordinary  number  of  proverbs,  allusions,  even  allego- 
ries and  fables,  the  subtlety  and  delicacy  of  which  would 
be  entirely  lost  upon  those  of  the  same  social  grade  further 
west.  Like  the  Gaelic — perhaps  like  many  languages  as  yet 
unspoiled  by  conventional  uses — Arabic  may  be  described 
as  excellent  "  to  swear  in,  to  make  love  in,  and  to  shuffle 
out  of  a  bargain  in."  For  erotic  songs,  the  East  is,  of 
course,  unrivalled,  and  few  would  venture  on  the  attempt 
to  out-swear  an  Arab.  In  a  bargain  the  Arab  could  probably 
be  beaten  by  a  Jew,  a  Greek,  or  an  Armenian,  especially  in 
Arabic.  When  he  begins  to  swear,  or  rather,  when  he  really 
warms  to  the  subject,  all  minor  considerations  of  the  unities 
are  absolutely  transcended.  He  will  curse  the  father  of  his 
own  son,  he  will  curse  the  harem  of  his  she-donkey  :  "  May 
your  house  be  destroyed  and  the  house  of  your  master,"  he 
will  say  to  a  servant  who  annoys  him.  Cursing  is  a  recog- 
nized way  of  expressing  emotion.  For  two  thousand  years 
the  Jewish  child  has  been  taught  to  throw  a  stone  at  Absa- 
lom's Pillar,  as  a  visible  token  of  the  curse  which  rests  on 
filial  disobedience  ;  and  a  part  of  the  ritual  of  the  Mecca 
Pilgrimage  is  the  throwing  of  stones  in  the  valley  of  Mena. 
This  custom,  at  least  time-honoured,  is  held  by  some  anti- 
quarians to  account  for  the  existence  of  certain  cairns  to 
be  found  here  in  various  places  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
dolmens  and  ancient  monuments  still  held  sacred.  By 
analogy  with  the  cursing-stones  of  Celtic  races  in  Scotland 
Ireland,  Wales,  and  Brittany,  we  may  suppose  them  to  be 
associated  with  the  saint  whose  imprecations  upon  an 
enemy  are  desired,  possibly  in  connexion  with  some  wish 
or  vow,  of  which  the  stones  are  the  witness.1  There  are 
some  forcible  examples  of  cursing  in  the  Koran,  though 

1  Alike  in  the  East  and  among  the  Celts  we  find  rags  and  frag- 
ments of  clothing  fastened  in  Holy  Places,  either  as  evidence  of 
pilgrimages,  witness  of  a  vow,  or  as  points  de  repere  for  the  concen- 
tration of  transferred  sickness  or  sorrow. 

235 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Mohammed  was  inferior  to  the  Psalmist  in  the  art  of  effect- 
ive and  picturesque  imprecation.  The  details  of  the  Com- 
mination  Service  become  more  impressive  in  the  country 
which  gave  them  birth  when  one  realizes  that  any  mis- 
chievous child  can  remove  his  neighbour's  landmark — the 
single  row  of  separated  stones  which  to  this  day  serve  to 
indicate  what  in  Scotland  we  call  the  Marches,  where  per- 
verting the  judgment  of  the  stranger  and  the  fatherless, 
taking  reward  to  slay  the  innocent  and  smiting  his  neigh- 
bour secretly  is  mainly  a  question  of  baksheesh. 

Both  in  small  things  and  great  the  Arab  is  extraordinarily 
acute.  The  porter  of  an  hotel  is  a  veritable  Sherlock 
Holmes  in  the  rapidity  with  which  he  takes  in  a  situation 
and  "  reckons  up  "  the  group  of  strangers  whom  he  admitted 
five  minutes  before.  In  the  wider  philosophy  of  life  they 
are  equally  subtle,  if  not  always  genial,  as  one  learns  from 
their  common  sayings  :  "  The  friends  of  this  world  are  but 
spies  on  our  conduct,"  "  Silence  is  the  protection  of  the 
ignorant,"  "  The  pain  of  death  is  less  than  that  of  an  un- 
welcome companion,"  "  He  who  hates  not,  loves  not  "  ; 
or,  to  ascend  to  a  higher  level,  we  may  quote,  "  Spoil  not 
an  act  of  kindness  by  talking  about  it,"  "  To  adjourn  a  bad 
action  is  to  begin  it,"  "  Peace  of  mind  is  a  habit  that  does 
not  wear  out,"  "  One-third  of  faith  is  knowledge,  one-third 
modesty,  and  the  rest  generosity."  All  these  are  of  value 
as  practical  rules  of  life,  and  the  same  type  of  social  philo- 
sophy is  inculcated  in  most  of  their  stories. 

Their  very  acuteness  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  a  difficulty 
to  the  student  whatever  the  direction  of  his  inquiry.  The 
Arab  has  two  tendencies,  common,  perhaps,  to  elementary 
races,  and  notably  among  the  Celts — one  of  giving  a  pleasant 
answer,  the  other  of  concealing  what  is  in  his  mind.  The 
advice  given  by  M.  Clermont  Ganneau  as  a  result  of  many 
years'  study  of  then'  character  is  precisely  that  which  we 
have  ourselves  found  useful  in  dealing  with  the  Highlanders 
of  Scotland,  when  equally  in  quest  of  folk-lore  and  local 

236 


THE    MOSLEM   AS    A    CITIZEN 

colouring.  "  The  art  of  questioning  Arabs,"  he  writes, 
"  consists  in  knowing  when  to  shut  your  mouth  and  keep 
your  eyes  and  ears  open,  listening  so  as  to  draw  them  on  to 
tell  stories,  and  thus  gradually  extracting  information  while 
carefully  abstaining  from  asking  questions  calculated  to 
suggest  ideas  to  minds  so  credulous  and  so  easily  influenced." 
It  is  our  privilege  to  visit  occasionally  at  the  house  of  a 
well  educated  Moslem  friend,  on  whose  bookshelves  we 
have  found  works,  among  others,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
Emerson,  Blackmore,  Shakespeare,  Zola,  Georges  Sand 
Daudet,  Jules  Bois,  and  Bourget,  and  who  hastily  dropped 
a  copy  of  Rousseau  out  of  sight  behind  the  rest,  a  tribute 
to  the  presence  of  womanhood  which  we  found  suggestive 
and  interesting.  The  ladies  of  the  household,  his  mother 
and  sister-in-law,  receive  us  kindly,  and  the  children,  a  girl 
and  two  boys,  are  Avell-mannered  and  intelligent,  the  girl, 
contrary  to  popular  theory,  holding  her  own  with  the  boys 
here  as  elsewhere.  Now  that — thanks  to  the  Turkish 
Government  and  the  American  Colony — Moslem  girls  are 
receiving  a  superior  education  we  cannot  fail,  in  presence  of 
those  bookshelves,  to  express  curiosity  as  to  how  those  who 
have  learnt  no  foreign  languages  will  utilize  their  powers  of 
reading.  The  Arabic  poetry  is,  we  are  assured,  "  very 
difficult  "  ;  the  Thousand  and  One  Nightsh&ve  in  them  much 
which  is  "  not  good,"  but  there  are  now,  it  is  said,  some 
translations  of  Romances,  and  we  find  among  the  list  of 
publications  by  the  Arabic  presses  in  Beirut  many  books 
well  deserving  attention.  The  Jesuits,  besides  theology, 
have  given  the  Arabic-speaking  people  of  Palestine  the 
opportunity  of  reading  a  considerable  number  of  the  best 
standard  works  in  history  and  science.  The  American 
press  also  has  published  many  books  which  cannot  fail  to 
influence  a  people  to  whom  modern  literature  is  practically 
unknown.  There  are  some  forty  volumes  of  science, 
naturally  somewhat  elementary,  including  such  subjects  as 
astronomy,  geology,  chemistry,  anatomy  and  hygiene, 

237^ 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

besides  specialist  works  for  the  use  of  the  students  of  their 
excellent  medical  school.  Algebra  and  geometry  are  now 
again  at  home  in  the  language  which  was  among  the  first 
to  give  them  utterance  ;  geography  and  history  are  each 
represented  in  some  dozen  volumes  ;  grammars  of  various 
languages  are,  of  course,  numerous,  and  among  "  miscel- 
laneous "  works  one  is  glad  to  hail  many  old  friends.  There 
are  Robinson  Crusoe  and  Swiss  Family  Robinson  in  part 
payment  for  what  the  schoolboy  owes  for  The  Arabian 
Nights.  There  is  Self -Help,  about  which  one  feels  a  trifle 
uncertain,  for  while  the  lesson  of  industry  is  everywhere  of 
value,  that  of  frugality  is  here  more  than  superfluous,  and 
Smiles'  biographies  are  written  to  a  tune  which,  in  Oriental 
surroundings,  has  something  of  the  vulgarity  of  the  street 
musician.  Peep  of  Day  and  its  companion  volumes,  the 
Schonberg  Cotta  Family,  Mrs.  Sherwood's  Little  Woodman, 
and,  above  all,  Black  Beauty,  are  books  one  is  glad  to  meet 
in  any  tongue.  A  good  many  books  have  been  published 
at  the  expense  of  private  persons,  which  is  enough  to  account 
for  anything  ;  but  one  feels  a  certain  psychological  curiosity 
as  to  what  the  subtle  Arab  mind  deduces  from  such  works 
as  Miss  Havergal's  Little  Pillows,  Jessica's  First  Prayer^ 
or  The  Prince  of  the  House  of  David. 

From  Misery  to  Happiness,  by  John  Bunyan,  means,  let 
us  suppose,  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  a  work  which  could  not 
fail  to  delight  those  to  whom  the  idea  of  pilgrimage  is 
familiar,  and  to  whom  allegory  is  a  common  form  of  speech. 
It  is  conceivable  that  sermons  by  Spurgeon  and  Moody  may 
appeal  to  some ;  they  are  to  be  had  by  the  score ;  and  the 
numerous  tracts  on  intemperance  are,  judging  from  the 
analogy  of  many  nations  recently  Christianized,  a  fitting 
accompaniment  to  other  gifts  of  European  civilization.  The 
two  English  Missionary  Societies  which  have  been  in  the 
country  eighty  and  fifty  years  respectively,  have  done  nothing 
to  satisfy  the  intellectual  appetite  which,  presumably,  it  is 
the  avowed  purpose  of  their  educational  institutions  to 

238 


VILLAGE  SHEIKS. 


THE   MOSLEM   AS    A   CITIZEN 

create.  It  is  fortunate  that  Americans  and  Jesuits  should 
have  done  so  much  to  supply  our  deficiency.  Even  the 
Arabic  translation  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  pub- 
lished by  another  Society,  that  so  widely  respected,  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge. 

Many  of  the  Moslems  belonging  to  the  oldest  and  most 
distinguished  families  are  engaged  hi  trade,  and  even  to 
keep  a  shop  is  apparently  no  derogation  of  dignity,  especially 
now  that,  for  very  practical  reasons,  it  literally  does  not  pay 
to  work  for  the  Government,  and  there  are  no  learned  pro- 
fessions to  fall  back  upon.  There  are  few  doctors,  there  are 
no  clergy,  and,  as  a  profession  per  se,  no  lawyers.  There  is 
an  enforced  military  service,  but  in  Palestine  the  officers  in 
the  army  are  mostly  Turks.  Life  in  the  Holy  Land  is  not 
costly,  and  a  good  many  live  as  landed  proprietors  on  a 
small  scale.  The  Moslem  gentleman,  except  in  certain 
cases  where,  unfortunately  for  himself,  he  has  taken  to 
European  costume,  is  of  very  dignified  appearance.  All 
Turkish  subjects  must  wear  the  tarbush,  or  fez,  which,  in 
his  case,  is  rendered  more  becoming  by  the  handkerchief 
twisted  about  it.  Out  of  doors  he  wears  the  jibir,  a  substi- 
tute for  the  abba  of  the  lower  classes,  and  something  of  a 
compromise  with  Prankish  fashions.  It  is  a  long  coat, 
hanging  perfectly  plain  from  neck  to  heel,  and  with  a  low 
collar  like  an  Anglican  priest's.  It  is  often  made  of  very 
fine  cloth,  and  is  becoming  and  dignified.  There  are  certain 
old  families,  the  descendants  of  the  associates  of  the 
Prophet,  who  came  to  Jerusalem  with  Omar,  and  whose 
very  names,  unlike  European  nomenclature,  convey  assur- 
ance of  their  social  position.  These  are  :  El  Husseini, 
descendants  of  the  prophet  himself ;  El  Ellami,  Et  Tahboub, 
En  Sabi,  Huddai,  Nammar,  Khaldi,  Jawani,  Jarallah, 
Ersasi ;  Dijani  and  Ed  Denaf,  who  are  the  servants  of  the 
Haram,  and  have  hereditary  charge  of  the  Dome  of  the 
Rock.1 

1  As  these  names  have  been  misquoted  in  certain  travellers'  books, 

239 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

It  is  what  we  should  call  "  good  form  "  to  be  precise  in 
religious  duties,  and  in  passing  through  Government  offices, 
the  Bureau  of  the  Police,  and  so  on,  it  is  edifying  and  start- 
ling to  European  ideas  to  see  the  employes  leaving  their 
desks  and  retiring  into  a  corner  to  pray.  The  clerks  in 
Whitehall  and  Somerset  House  may  have  good  reasons  for 
despising  the  unspeakable  Turk  and  other  Moslems  ;  but  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  he  pays  more  respect  to  his  Maker 
than  they  !  Five  times  a  day  must  he  kneel  toward  the 
East,  and  recite,  so  to  speak,  the  equivalent  to  the  Creed 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

There  are  three  Orders  of  Nuns  in  Jerusalem,  whose  con- 
cern it  is  to  pray  for  those  who  do  not  pray  for  themselves, 
Those  who  do  neglect  this  duty  in  Jerusalem  have  at  least 
no -excuse  of  want  of  even  verbal  reminder,  for  from  all 
parts  of  the  city,  five  times  a  day,  the  Muezzin  proclaims 
the  obligation.  His  voice,  at  earliest  dawn,  rings  with 
special  clearness  over  the  quiet  city  where,  though  the 
fellahin  are  already  bargaining  their  fruit  and  vegetables, 
thousands  of  citizens  are  still  sleeping. 

"  God  is  most  Great  f  God  is  most  great"  he  proclaims, 
facing  the  morning  miracle  of  sunrise.  "  /  testify  there  is 
no  God  but  God  !  I  testify  Mohammed  is  God's  messenger ! 
Come  ye  and  pray  !  Come  ye  and  pray  !  It  is  better  to  pray 
than  to  sleep  f  There  is  no  God  bat  God  f  "  And  one  cannot 
but  remember  that  out  of  the  six  or  seven  thousand  Moslems 
of  the  Holy  Cit}^  some  thousands,  at  least,  must  be  respond- 
ing to  the  call. 

The  Mohammedan  opens  the  door  of  his  shop,  or  bureau, 
with  the  invocation,  ''  O  opener  of  the  day  !  0  gracious 
One  !  0  restorer  of  property  !  0  bountiful  One  !  "  There 
is  a  whole  racial  history  in  that  "  O  restorer  of  property  !  " 
Sitting,  it  may  be,  in  the  early  morning  on  the  hill-side 
opposite  the  Damascus  Gate,  and  watching  the  effendis 

this  list  has  been  revised  by  one  whose  social  position  among  Moslem 
Arabs  is  beyond  question. 

240 


THE  MUEZZIN  CALLING  THE  HOUR  OF  PRAYER. 


THE    MOSLEM    AS    A    CITIZEN 

making  their  way  from  the  Moslem  suburb  towards  the 
Serail  for  the  administration  of  the  laws  of  their  country  ; 
the  fellahin,  basket-laden,  coming  into  the  market;  the 
Bedouin  with  camels  bearing  grain  and  wood ;  the  police, 
the  soldier,  the  tax-gatherer,  all  with  the  demure  gait  of 
the  town  Arab,  one  is  irresistibly  reminded  of  "  the  weary 
souls  by  thousands  meekly  stealing,"  and  one  wonders  the 
less  that  places  of  business  should  be  opened  with  an  appeal 
to  the  "  Restorer  of  property."  The  anonymous  editor 
of  Kinglake's  Eothen  (in  Methuen's  Little  Library)  writes 
of  certain  customs  of  this  country :  "  The  swindling 
is  so  palpable  and  yet  so  gravely  decorous  in  its  external 
forms  that  it  ceases  to  shock  ;  it  is  so  universal  that  in  the 
end  no  one  seems  to  have  suffered  much  wrong.  To  vary 
the  celebrated  remark  about  the  Scilly  Islanders,  one  may 
say  that  these  people  gain  a  precarious  livelihood  by  taking 
bribes  from  one  another."  (Introduction,  xx.) 

Besides  the  Salat, — the  obligation  of  praying  five  times  a 
day — the  Moslem  must  daily  recite  the  Creed,  "  There  is  no 
God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God."  He 
must  keep  the  yearly  fast  of  Ramadan  by  refraining  during 
a  month  from  food,  drink  or  smoking  from  sunrise  to 
sunset,  he  must  give  a  tenth  of  his  property  in  alms,  and  if 
possible  he  must  make  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Some  who 
have  the  means,  but  lack  health  or  leisure,  perform  this 
last  duty  by  proxy,  praying  for  a  substitute,  as  in  the 
case  of  many  Russian  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem. 

These,  the  five  pillars  of  the  faith,  are  a  part  of  the 
"  Obligatory  action  "  incumbent  on  every  one,  whether  man 
or  woman,  who  has  arrived  at  years  of  discretion,  to  know 
and  observe.  It  consists  of  eight  things,  which  are  classified 
as  things  indispensable,  necessary,  traditional,  lawful, 
unlawful,  abominable  and  pernicious.  These  categories  are 
an  interesting  study  in  casuistry.  The  things  indispensable 
have  been  already  enumerated.  They  are,  perhaps,  on 
the  analogy  of  Sacraments,  for  he,  "  who  believes  them 

241  R 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

not  (may  God  preserve  us)  is  an  infidel."  He  who 
neglects  the  things  necessar}7,  which  are  of  the  nature  of  the 
works  of  supererogation,  such  as  voluntary  almsgiving, 
deserves  hell-fire,  but  is  not  an  infidel.  He  who  omits 
things  traditional,  such  as  circumcision,  is  open  to  reproach. 
He  who  does  things  meritorious  shall  receive  his  reward. 
He  who  does  things  lawful  is  praiseworthy.  Things  un- 
lawful, such  as  rebellion  against  parents,  lead  to  the  tor- 
ments of  hell,  and  "  he  who  calls  things  unlawful,  lawful 
(which  God  forbid),  is  an  infidel."  (One  cannot  refrain 
from  the  reflection  that,  according  to  Moslem  standard, 
a  large  proportion  of  modern  literature  is  tainted  by 
infidelity !)  Things  abominable  are  blameworthy  but 
do  not  deserve  torment  ;  they  include  carelessness  in 
ritual,  such  as  praying  at,  instead  of  before,  sunrise.  Things 
pernicious  are  ritual-neglect  of  a  more  serious  nature,  such 
as  inattention  while  at  prayer,  or  eating  during  a  fast. 
Moreover,  there  are  twelve  indispensable  conditions  of 
prayer,  four  of  ablution,  one  of  almsgiving,  three  of  pil- 
grimage, three  of  fast,  and  it  is  well  to  remember  that  in 
a  religion  without  priests,  sacraments,  confession,  or,  neces- 
sarily, public  worship,  yet,  withal,  with  a  strict  system  of 
rewards  and  punishments,  so  elaborate  a  ritual  lays  a  heavy 
responsibility  upon  individual  conscience. 

The  common  assertion  that  modern  religion  is  divorced 
from  life  is  by  no  means  a  fair  generalization.  There  is,  for 
example,  much  room  for  private  charity  ;  at  the  Festival 
of  Beiram,  for  instance,  when  every  household  that  can 
afford  it,  sacrifices  a  sheep,  in  remembrance  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Ishmael  (sic),  there  is  always  abundance  given  to  those 
who  cannot  themselves  do  what  is  ceremonially  required. 

The  other  day  a  wealthy  Moslem  was  about  to  celebrate 
the  circumcision  of  his  son,  a  boy  of  about  twelve  years. 
The  ceremonial  tends  to  become  the  occasion  of  an  elaborate 
and  costly  hospitality,  and  he  accordingly  allowed  it  to  be 
known  that  any  parents  unable  to  afford  the  expense  on 

242 


THE    MOSLEM   AS    A    CITIZEN 

their  own  account  might  bring  their  boys  to  share  in  the 
proposed  festivity.  Over  fifty  little  boys  attended,  and  all 
received  a  suit  of  clothing  proper  to  the  occasion,  and  they 
and  their  friends  were  entertained  and  fed. 

Every  day,  what  in  England  we  should  call  a  soup-kitchen 
is  opened  for  the  poor,  irrespective  of  creed.  The  charity 
has  a  small  original  endowment,  but  is  now  so  widely 
extended  that  the  endowment  would  be  inadequate  were  it 
not  for  the  gifts  of  the  faithful,  often  taking  the  form  of 
votive  or  thanksgiving  offerings — a  sheep,  it  may  be,  or  a 
sack  of  rice  or  meal. 

Until  the  Jews  lately  established  an  asylum — it  must  be 
admitted,  on  lines  more  scientific  —  the  Moslems  alone 
made  provision  for  the  insane.1  Like  the  Jews  of  the  time 
of  our  Lord,  they  assume  (who  knows  with  what  justice  ?) 
that  insanity  is  due  to  the  presence  of  an  evil  spirit,  and 
their  treatment  is  based  on  the  theory  of  exorcism,  of 
making  his  tenement  unpleasant. 

They,  however,  distinguish  between  the  insane  "  who 
hath  a  devil"  and  a  congenital  idiot,  whom  they  treat  as 
"  God's  fool,"  on  the  supposition  that  his  soul  is  in  heaven. 
Dr.  Chaplin  (Q.S.  1894),  in  relation  to  certain  nervous 
diseases,  common,  especially  among  young  women,  in 
Palestine,  tells  us  that  such  patients  are  sometimes  shut  up 
under  the  Haram  Area,  or  chained  to  a  pillar  in  the  church 
at  el  Khudr  (i.e.  St.  George),  or  sent  to  the  Cave  of  Elijah. 
He  adds,  "It  is  said  that  benefit  is  often  derived  from  this 
method  of  treatment ;  the  awful  sacredness  of  the  place, 
the  silence,  the  solitude,  producing  a  kind  of  shock  to  the 
nervous  system,  which  proves  beneficial.  The  remedy  is 
akin  to  the  sudden  fright  which  cures  hiccup,  swallowing 
live  spiders  for  ague.  .  .  .  The  chain  with  which  patients 
are  bound  to  a  pillar  in  the  church  at  el  Khudr  is,  perhaps, 

1  Waldmeier,  a  German  Swiss,  has  established  an  Asylum  in  the 
Lebanon,  which  is,  from  the  point  of  view  both  of  science  and  bene- 
ficence, worthy  of  the  highest  respect. 

243 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

that  which  was  shown  to  Felix  Fabri  in  the  fifteenth  century 
as  the  chain  with  which  St.  George  had  been  bound.  Brother 
Felix  relates  that  he  and  his  companions  put  it  round  their 
necks  out  of  devotion." 

There  is  an  admirable  Moslem  hospital,  supported  by 
Government,  and — in  itself  a  fact  of  interesting  significance — 
under  the  management  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul, 
commonly  known  as  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  order  and 
completeness  of  all  arrangements  are  abundant  testimony 
that  it  could  not  be  in  better  hands.  The  building  is  admir- 
ably planned ;  there  is  well  organized  accommodation  for 
out-patients,  the  dispensary,  and  operating-room,  wards  on 
a  separate  floor  for  women,  a  Mosque,  accessible  at  all 
hours  ;  supervision  of  doctors,  native  and  European,  care- 
fully trained  Arab-speaking  nurses,  the  frequent  attendance 
of  a  Moslem  committee  of  management,  and  a  separate 
building,  under  the  charge  of  police,  for  criminals  needing 
medical  attention. 

There  is  a  carefully  tended  garden  for  the  use  of  con- 
valescents, and  it  is  pleasant  to  notice  everywhere,  even  in 
the  dispensary,  the  presence  of  flowers.  The  rules  of  the 
Order  forbid  the  attendance  of  the  Sisters  upon  obstetric 
and  syphilitic  cases  and  at  certain  operations  ;  but  in 
the  cause  of  humanity  even  these  are  set  aside  if  the  case  is 
urgent  or  the  auxiliary  nurses  inadequate.  The  Sisters  are 
a  magnificent  illustration  of  the  grand  rule  "  laborare  est 
orare."  Even  the  ritual  requirements  of  their  faith  have 
to  be  arranged  with  a  view  to  the  exigencies  of  service,  and 
their  daily  Mass  is  heard  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in 
order  that  their  patients  may  not  lack  their  work,  even 
when  gaining  by  their  prayer.  "  We  try  to  feel  that  at 
least  our  actes  are  said  before  the  Muezzin  calls  the  Moslems 
to  prayer,"  *  said  one  of  them.  "  We  like  to  be  the  first  to 

1  In  addition  to  the  morning  cry  of  the  Muezzin,  the  Dervishes 
go  about  the  town,  especially  at  the  time  of  Ramadan,  beating  a 
drum  to  call  the  people  to  prayer,  and  crying  out,  "  Oh,  Moslems  ! 

244 


THE    MOSLEM   AS    A   CITIZEN 

knock  at  Heaven's  gate  on  behalf  of  our  poor  sufferers." 
They  take  no  mean  advantage  of  their  relation  to  their 
patients  in  order  to  interfere  with  their  faith.  "  If  our 
work  does  not  speak  the  example  of  our  Master,  our  poor 
words  would  have  little  chance,"  said  a  young  Alsatian, 
whose  very  countenance  was  in  itself  a  lesson  of  calm 
happiness  and  selfless  devotion.  We  asked  what  happened 
when  the  patients  realized  the  approach  of  death.  "Oh, 
their  teachers  come  and  visit  them,  or  they  pray  with  each 
other.  They  are  full  of  God's  praises  ;  it  is  very  edifying." 
In  an  outside  building,  carefully  locked  and  guarded,  we 
found  a  poor  criminal  convicted  of  murder.  He  was  dying 
of  diabetes,  but  he  had  every  comfort,  every  possible 
alleviation  of  his  sufferings.  The  Sisters  visited  him  con- 
tinually, but  the  policeman  in  charge  was  also  his  nurse, 
and  we  could  not  but  observe  in  his  conduct  more  of  com- 
passionate ministration  than  of  the  stern  guardian.  We 
arrived  about  a  quarter  to  four  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 
policeman  was  engaged  at  his  third  hour  of  prayer,  Ikindi ; 
and  the  presence  alike  of  the  Sister  and  the  Lady,  the  rahbat 
and  the  sitt,  availed  nothing  to  distract  his  attention  from 
his  devotions.  That  would  have  been  one  of  the  "  things 
pernicious."  The  essential  ritual  accomplished,  however,  he 
rose,  and,  still  continuing  to  pray  aloud,  unlocked  the  door 
and  admitted  us.  The  poor  patient  had  been  removed 
from  the  comfortable  iron  bedstead  to  a  mat  upon  the  stone 
floor,  reverting,  by  his  own  wish,  in  the  extremity  of  suffer- 
ing to  his  normal  habits.  As  his  attendant  entered,  still 
praying  aloud,  he  made  a  feeble  effort  to  perform  the  Rakaat, 
the  ritual  genuflections,  as  his  lips  moved  in  praise  of  "  the 
Compassionate,  the  Merciful,  the  King  of  the  day  of 
judgment,"  whose  summons  he  was  hastening  to  obey. 

Oh,  God's  people  !  I'm  a  Dervish  of  God's  way.  Get  up  to  your 
morning  meal ;  the  prophet  visits  you — the  prophet  redeems  you ; 
your.  Creator  will  not  forget  you  " — a  cry  which,  incidentally  no 
doubt,  procures  for  themselves  an  invitation  to  breakfast. 

245 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

The  occasion  when  one  obtains  the  most  impressive  view 
of  the  Mohammedan  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  is  that  of  the 
annual  pilgrimage  to  the  alleged  Tomb  of  Moses  at  Nebi 
Musa.  There  is  a  pretty  legend  that  Moses  complained  of 
the  loneliness  of  his  grave,  and  that  God,  to  console  him, 
promised  him  an  annual  pilgrimage.  We  learn,  however, 
from  the  Rev.  E.  Hanauer,  of  a  local  tradition  which,  if  less 
romantic,  is  more  probable,  that  the  origin  of  the  pilgrimage 
was  political  rather  than  religious,  and  that  it  was  a  device 
for  gathering  together  a  large  body  of  Moslems  during  the 
period  when  the  Holy  City  was  crowded  with  Christian 
pilgrims.  It  is  quite  useless  to  quote  that  "  No  man  knows 
that  Sepulchre,  and  no  man  saw  it  e'er,"  because  its  where- 
abouts was  revealed  to  a  holy  dervish  in  a  dream,  and  every 
spring  hundreds  of  Moslems  perform  devotions  there  which 
last  for  a  week.  Their  traditions  on  the  subject  of  that 
Vale  in  the  Land  of  Moab,  originally  published  by  Frere 
Lievin,  have  been  often  quoted.  The  story,  which  is  long 
and  elaborate,  relates  in  brief  that  to  Moses  God  had  given 
the  privilege  that,  although  120  years  of  age,  he  should 
never  die  till  he  voluntarily  stepped  into  his  grave.  For 
the  sake  of  his  charge,  he  studiously  avoided  the  neighbour- 
hood of  sepulchres,  a  habit  which,  in  these  days,  would  in 
Jerusalem  oblige  one  to  remain  indoors. 

Nevertheless  he  must  fulfil  the  demands  of  destiny.  One 
day,  while  walking  among  the  mountains,  he  saw  four  angels 
disguised  as  workmen  the  better  to  deceive  him.  They 
were  engaged  hi  cutting  a  sepulchre  in  the  heart  of  the 
rock,  but  on  being  asked  the  nature  of  their  occupation, 
they  replied,  "  We  have  been  sent  to  prepare  a  retreat  for 
the  most  precious  treasure  of  our  King.  Our  task  is  nearly 
done,  and  we  are  only  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  treasure 
itself."  The  sun  was  hot,  and  the  cool  cavern  in  the  hillside 
offered  inviting  shelter.  Moses,  heated  and  weary,  asked 
permission  to  enter  and  stretched  his  limbs  upon  a  stone 
bench  in  the  remotest  corner,  upon  which  the  workmen 

246 


THE    MOSLEM    AS    A    CITIZEN 

offered  him  with  all  signs  of  respect  an  apple  of  exquisite 
colour  and  perfume.  He  accepted  it,  to  appease  his 
thirst,  but  had  barely  carried  it  to  his  lips,  when  he  fell 
into  eternal  slumber,  upon  which  his  soul  ascended  on  high, 
borne  upon  the  wings  of  the  ministering  angels  from  the 
spot  where  his  body  reposes  to  this  day. 

In  proof  of  the  story,  the  rock  of  which  the  sepulchre  is 
composed  is  outside  white  as  the  angels  of  light,  and 
within  dark  as  the  angels  of  death. 

Frere  Lievin  materializes  the  position  by  pointing  out 
that  the  sepulchre  is  within  the  remains  of  a  convent, 
possibly  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  Christendom.  It  was 
founded  in  the  fourth  century  by  St.  Euthymius,1  and 
destroyed  by  Chosroes  in  616.  The  Moslems,  upon  their 
arrival  in  the  country,  conceiving  the  idea  that  it  was  a  spot 
of  especial  sanctity,  built  a  minaret  out  of  the  ruins,  estab- 
lished a  guard  of  Dervishes,  and  bestowed  upon  it  the  above 
tradition. 

All  the  strict  Moslems  of  Jerusalem,  and  great  numbers 
from  the  country,  who  assemble  in  advance,  unite  in  pilgrim- 
age, preceded  by  the  green  flag,  long  preserved  for  the 
occasion  in  the  family  of  the  Husseini.  The  women  line  the 
roads  for  a  couple  of  miles,  sitting  in  tight-packed  rows  in 
their  white  sheets  (the  izzar)  and  with  their  faces  covered  by 
veils  of  figured  muslin  (the  mandil),  which  make  them  look 
as  if  they  had  a  disease  or  deformity. 

The  strict  Moslem  considers  silk  unclean,  so  the  simplicity 
of  the  linen  wrapper  is  no  indication  of  poverty.  Moham- 
medan women,  out  of  doors,  make  no  pretence  to  the  gay 
colouring  and  rich  material  of  the  Jewess. 

The  pilgrims  assemble  in  the  Haram  Area,  and  as  they 
leave  the  adjacent  gate  of  St.  Stephen  a  gun  is  fired  and  a 
detachment  of  soldiers  comes  sweeping  down  the  hill  to 

1  The  learned  Dominican,  Father  Vincent,  a  specialist  in  Jeru- 
salem archaeology,  is,  however,  of  opinion,  that  the  convent  in 
question  was  more  probably  at  the  Khan  el  Ahmar. 

247 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

clear  the  road  for  the  advancing  procession,  which  consists 
of  some  hundreds  of  Moslems,  chief  among  whom  is  the 
Mufti.  Naturally  but  a  small  band  accompanies  the  flag 
to  its  ultimate  destination,  where  they  remain  for  a  week, 
and  which  is  occasionally  the  scene  of  disorder  and  even 
tragedy.  Already  one  sees  the  elements  of  intense  excite- 
ment, and  by  the  time  they  return  the  following  week  there 
will  have  been  various  accretions,  emotional  and  real,  which 
account  for  the  presence  already  of  Turkish  troops  along  the 
line  of  pilgrimage.  Here,  two  rival  tribes  coming  from 
opposite  directions  chance  to  meet,  and  a  miniature  battle 
takes  place  under  our  very  eyes  ;  indeed,  we  ourselves  are 
driven  to  take  shelter  behind  some  tombs,  and  on  our 
return  find  traces  of  blood  shed  on  the  very  spot  where  we 
had  been  standing.  Here  is  a  Dervish  with  sheesh,  a  skewer 
hah6  a  yard  long,  through  both  cheeks,  which  he  frequently 
withdraws  and  replaces,  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  crowd. 
Here  a  fanatical  group  are  vehemently  cursing  us,  our 
fathers  and  mothers,  our  camels  and  our  asses,  dogs  of 
Franks  that  we  are  !  Here,  again,  a  gradually  increasing 
group  has  hypnotized  itself  into  a  state  of  ecstasy,  and  for 
a  good  half  hour,  with  hardly  a  pause,  has  been  executing  a 
monotonous  dance,  repeating  ceaselessly  the  formula  known 
as  the  Zikr  ;  that  is,  the  mentioning  of  the  name  of  God. 

' '  La  illdlah  ilia  lldh,"  "  There  is  no  God  but  God. ' '  The 
rhythm  is  thus  accentuated,  and  the  repetition  is  on  four 
notes,  which,  ceaselessly  repeated,  have  a  stupefying  effect 
of  which  we,  mere  spectators  even,  are  unwillingly  conscious. 
A  writer  in  the  P.E.F.,  who  watched  the  same  ceremony 
in  a  mosque  in  the  town,  calculated  that  the  formula  was 
repeated  about  thirty  times  a  minute  during  three  periods 
of  ten  minutes,  and  for  a  shorter  period  with  greater  rapidity, 
making  about  a  thousand  repetitions  during  an  hour  and 
three  quarters. 

Others  are  executing  a  sort  of  dance,  always  upon  the 
same  spot,  beating  time  with  their  hands  the  while,  and 

248 


THE   MOSLEM   AS    A    CITIZEN 

shouting  "  Allah  ddeem,  Allah,  Allah  hei  "  ("  God  is  everlast- 
ing, God  is  living." )  Their  cries  and  their  movements  become 
more  and  more  rapid,  they  are  panting  and  breathless,  the 
singing  is  intermittent,  and  finally  there  is  but  an  occasional 
gasp  of  "  hei,"  and  at  last  the  leader,  himself  exhausted, 
suddenly  stops,  and  one  expects  to  see  them  collapse  upon 
the  ground ;  but  no,  some  one  is  at  hand  with  a  bottle  of 
water,  from  the  spout  of  which  all  drink  in  turn  and  are 
ready  to  begin  again. 

There  is  a  tourist  superstition  that  every  green  turban,  or 
mantle,  indicates  a  pilgrim  to  Mecca  or  a  descendant  of  the 
prophet.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  green  mantle  was  originally 
a  literary  decoration  given  by  the  prophet  to  one  Kaab  ebn 
Zoheir,  who  so  enchanted  him  by  the  recitation  of  a  poem 
that  he  took  off  his  own  cloak  and  threw  it  over  the  shoulders 
of  the  poet,  an  action  which  signified  protection.  The 
recipient  placed  so  high  a  value  upon  his  possession  that  he 
refused  the  sum  of  10,000  dirhems  of  silver ;  the  Kaliph 
Moawyia,  the  would-be  purchaser,  got  it  at  last,  however, 
on  the  poet's  death,  on  payment  of  double  that  sum.  It 
was  long  preserved  by  the  Kaliphs  of  the  Moaweeya  and  the 
Abassides  successively,  but  was  finally  burnt  on  the  capture 
of  Bagdad  by  the  Tartars  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
green  attire  is  now  worn  for  devotion,  or  even  eccentricity, 
and  has  ceased  to  be  distinctive  of  family  or  piety.  A  not 
unusual  method,  however,  of  publishing  the  fact  of  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca  is  by,  so  to  speak,  affixing  a  certificate  to  the 
front  door.  Pictures  roughly  painted  upon  the  stone  door- 
way represent  the  dangers  that  have  been  braved  ;  the 
forests,  wild  beasts,  and  in  some  cases  the  ship  and  railway 
train,  while  the  sanctity  of  the  owner  is  exhibited  by  the 
inscription  of  texts  and  pious  ejaculations.  Whatever  may 
be  the  nature  of  the  hold  upon  the  Moslem  of  his  religion, 
whether  the  complication  be  political,  social,  or  domestic, 
certain  it  is,  as  Bishop  Gobat  himself  put  it,  "  that  there 
can  be  no  question  of  proselytism  among  the  Moslems  is  a 

249 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

matter  of  course."  That  a  certain  number  of  Jews  should 
have  apostatized  to  Mohammedanism  is  not  altogether  sur- 
prising, as  the  monotheistic  character  of  its  creed  would 
appeal  to  them  more  readily  than  Trinitarianism  misunder- 
stood. Gratz  (Oesch.  des  gudenthums,  vi.  303)  appears  to 
ascribe  the  apostasy  of  the  Jews  during  the  twelfth  century 
to  the  degeneracy  and  superstition  that  had  then  taken 
hold  of  eastern  Judaism,  and  also,  partly,  to  the  temporal 
successes  of  the  Arabs. 

Even  so  late  as  1840,  after  the  cruel  persecution  of  the 
Jews,  consequent  upon  the  disturbances  in  Syria,  the  with- 
drawal of  the  French  protectorate  in  the  north,  and  the 
restoration  of  Turkish  authority,  Moses  Abulafia,  a  member 
of  a  well  known  family  which  has  furnished  many  distin- 
guished Rabbis  and  Talmudic  scholars  to  various  towns  of 
Palestine,  assumed  the  turban  to  escape  further  torture.  A 
writer  in  the  Jewish  Encyclopaedia  [v.  Apostates]  remarks, 
"  In  general,  it  may  be  said,  that  the  apostates  to  Islam 
exhibited  no  great  animosity  toward  their  former  brethren. 
Those  that  went  over  to  the  side  of  Ishmael  never  forgot 
that  he  and  Isaac  were  both  sons  of  Abraham  ;  and  the 
reason  for  this  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  tolerance  which 
Mohammedans  almost  universally  showed  to  the  Jews." 


250 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO 
WOMEN 

MARRIAGE  CUSTOMS — TYPES  OF  WOMANHOOD — DRESS 
—PHYSIQUE — DOMESTIC  EDUCATION — DEBATE  ON 
WOMEN'S  RIGHTS — AN  EVENING  PARTY — HOUSEHOLD 
OCCUPATIONS — NEEDLEWORK — CHILDREN — VULGARITY 
—A  MOSLEM  ESTABLISHMENT — THE  "SABEEL" 

MARK  TWAIN,  who  always  combines  as  much  direct 
fair  thinking  as  is  compatible  with  the  tendency  to 
take  the  conventional  view  of  Palestine,  remarks  : — 

"  Mosques  are  plenty,  graveyards  are  plenty,  but  morals 
and  whisky  are  scarce.  The  Koran  does  not  permit  Moham- 
medans to  drink.  Their  natural  instincts  do  not  permit 
them  to  be  moral  ...  it  makes  our  cheeks  burn  with 
shame  to  see  such  a  thing  permitted  here  in  Turkey.  We 
do  not  mind  it  so  much  in  Salt  Lake  City  "  (New  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  chap.  iii.). 

The  immorality  in  question  consists  of  the  permission  to 
multiply  wives  up  to  the  number  of  four,  which,  according 
to  history,  would  be  moderate  in  Salt  Lake  City — a  per- 
mission of  which,  however,  the  Moslem  seldom  avails  him- 
self ;  the  upper  classes  because — except  in  royal  circles, 
in  which  here,  as  elsewhere,  certain  irregularities  are  per- 
mitted— the  march  of  civilization  and  perhaps  a  more 
modern  standard  of  domestic  comfort  has  carried  them 
beyond  this  relic  of  patriarchal  barbarism ;  the  lower, 

251 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

because,  among  other  reasons,  such  an  indulgence  would  be 
too  costly.  This  custom,  like  much  else  in  the  Moslem 
faith,  was  probably  borrowed  from  the  Jews,  among  whom, 
Scriptural  example  apart,  the  Mishneh  allowed  an  ordinary 
Jew  four  wives,  a  king  eighteen.  The  great  Hillel  made 
divorce  quite  as  easy  as  it  is  among  Moslems  ;  and  a  woman 
who  was  ugly,  ill-dressed,  or  a  bad  cook,  then  as  now,  had 
small  chance  of  a  permanent  situation  (Gittin,  ix.  10). 

Even  in  the  early  days  of  the  Victorian  era,  however, 
before  those  of  modern  modifications,  it  did  not  neces- 
sarily follow  that  a  Moslem  household  was  more  unhappy 
than  an  English  one.  The  traveller  Warburton  observes 
that  "  the  Eastern  woman  seems  as  happy  in  her  lot  as  her 
European  sister,  notwithstanding  the  plurality  of  wives 
that  her  lord  indulges  in  or  ventures  upon.  For  her 
there  is  no  more  disparagement  in  occupying  the  second 
place  as  a  wife  than  there  is  in  Europe  as  a  daughter. 
...  In  the  hareem  there  is  as  much  order  and 
decorum  as  in  an  English  Quaker's  home  ;  it  is  guarded  as 
the  tiger  guards  his  young ;  but  its  inmates  consider  this 
as  a  compliment,  and  fancy  themselves  neglected  if  not 
closely  watched  "  (The,  Crescent  and  the  Gross,  chap.  vi.). 

There  are  three  kinds  of  women,  says  an  Arab  tradition  : 
those  who  have  patches  on  the  knees,  like  those  who  pray  ; 
on  the  breast,  like  a  dog  that  scratches  itself  ;  and  on  the 
back,  like  an  ass  that  is  beaten  ;  which  distinctions  are 
thus  accounted  for.  When  Noah  had  a  daughter,  and  a 
sheikh  came  with  the  usual  congratulations,  the  patriarch 
replied  in  the  usual  form  of  an  offer  of  marriage  "  upon 
the  choice  of  your  hand,"  and  the  sheikh  accepted  the 
proposal.  With  more  politeness  than  forethought  he  did 
this  a  second  and  yet  a  third  time,  and  when  the  girl  grew 
up  she  had  three  bridegrooms  to  satisfy.  To  the  first  he 
gave  his  daughter,  and  to  the  second  and  third  his  she-ass 
and  she-dog,  changed  into  the  likeness  of  women  ;  and  from 
these  three  are  descended  the  three  varieties — the  womanly 

252 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

woman,  the  ass-woman,  stupid  and  self-willed,  and  the 
dog-woman,  who,  like  the  dog  of  the  East,  screams  for  the 
least  thing,  and  delights  in  running  about  the  streets  and 
stirring  up  unpleasant  matters  better  left  alone.  One 
would  be  sorry  to  suggest  that  the  same  classifications 
might  be  found  elsewhere  ;  and  in  fact  the  woman  of  the 
East  seems  to  be,  in  many  respects,  nearer  to  the  brute 
than  to  the  human  creation.  The  Greek  woman  may  have 
succeeded  hi  looking  graceful  in  flowing  robes  and  shapeless 
draperies  ;  the  Oriental  too  often  succeeds  only  in  looking 
obtrusively  female,  although,  in  grace  of  carriage  and  move- 
ment, she  might  have  given  points  to  Venus  or  Diana.  It 
would  appear,  however,  that  she  deliberately  cultivates 
as  beauties  physical  peculiarities  offensive  to  the  eye 
of  Northern  Europe.  This  is  less  perceptible  in  girl- 
hood, but  when  a  woman  becomes  a  mother  in  her  early 
teens,  and  lives  in  a  country  where  the  olive  branch  is  more 
than  conventionally  regarded  as  a  decoration,  one  can 
hardly  wonder  that  its  frequent  multiplication  should  early 
produce  the  results  one  deprecates. 

When  one  compares  the  physique  of  the  Arab  and  the 
Jewish  races,  as  represented  in  Jerusalem,  one  cannot  but 
reflect  that  Ishmael  must  have  been  much  better-looking 
than  Isaac  ;  or,  perhaps,  as  it  is  chiefly  among  the  women 
that  the  fact  strikes  us,  it  might  be  fairer  to  say  that  one 
can  hardly  wonder,  considering  their  respective  ages,  that 
the  daughters  of  Hagar  should  be  so  much  more  pleasing 
in  appearance  than  those  of  Sarah.  "  The  Harim  freely 
unveiled  before  me,"  says  Lady  Burton  (Inner  Life  of 
Syria),  "  and  I  thought  what  a  fine  chance  the  izzar  and 
mandil  would  be  for  some  of  us  !  "  The  izzar  and  mandil, 
which  so  entirely  mask  both  face  and  figure,  are,  however, 
essentially  the  dress  of  the  women — that  is,  the  Moslem 
women — of  the  towns  ;  and  for  beauty  one  must  as  a  rule 
go  to  the  villages,  where  the  graceful  dress,  the  white  veil 
thrown  back  from  the  face  hanging  to  the  waist,  or  some- 

253 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

times  to  the  edge  of  the  dress,  modify  the  abandon  of 
the  figure  ;  above  all,  where  the  habits  of  walking  barefoot 
and  of  carrying  burdens  on  the  head,  lend  dignity  and  ease 
to  the  carriage,  very  different  from  the  slouching  shuffle 
of  the  townswomen  in  ill-made  shoes  and  superabundant 
wrappings. 

At  Bethlehem,  Ramallah  and  Nazareth,1  the  women  are 
gorgeous  in  raiment  of  needlework,  each  district,  often  each 
village,  having  its  distinctive  dress,  woven,  dyed  and 
embroidered  at  home — the  acquisition  of  an  embroidered 
robe  and  a  head-dress  of  coins  being  the  girl's  principal 
outfit  for  matrimony.  In  the  Moslem  schools  at  Jerusalem, 
or  where  there  are  convents,  as  well  as  where  there  are 
Jewish  schools,  the  girls  are  taught  to  become  useful  wives, 
to  wash,  bake,  sew  and  cook  ;  but  the  English  missionaries 
have  done  nothing  in  this  direction,  though  they  had  been 
here  many  years  before  convents  were  established  or 
Government  schools  organized.  Now,  after  half  a  century 
of  lost  opportunity,  their  aid  is  no  longer  required  ;  and 
woman,  here  as  elsewhere,  is  beginning  to  take  her  fair 
share  of  the  responsibilities  as  well  as  the  work  of  life. 

In  spite  of  much  that  is  alleged  to  the  contrary,  there  is, 
and  always  has  been  among  the  Arabs,  a  certain  chivalrous 
recognition  of  the  higher  womanly  qualities.  In  the  time 
of  the  Mamelukes  criminals  were  led  to  execution  blindfold, 
because,  if  they  met  a  woman  and  could  but  touch  her 
garments,  they  would  be  saved  ;  and  only  the  other  day 
we  were  privileged  to  attend  the  meeting  of  a  club  of  some 
scores  of  young  Syrians,  among  whom  were  a  fair  sprinkling 
of  the  "  gentler  sex,"  in  order  to  listen  to  a  debate  by  Arabs 

1  The  beauty  of  the  Nazareth  women  was  not  lost  upon  the 
fathers  of  the  Early  Church.  Antoninus  Martyr  writes  :  "In 
eivitate  tanta  est  gratia  mulierum  Hebraearum  ut  inter  Hebraeas 
pulchriores  non  inveniantur,  et  hoc  S.  Maria  sibi  concessum  dicunt 
Provincia  paradise  similis  in  tritico  in  frugibus  similis  ^Egypto  sed 
praecellit  in  vino  et  oleo  promis  ac  melle." 

254 


A  BETHLEHEM  BRIDK. 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

and  Syrians,  in  the  country  of  the  Turk,  upon  the  position, 
education  and  rights  of  women !  Among  the  speakers, 
although  many  different  points  of  view  were  presented 
and  various  degrees  of  culture  advocated,  there  was  not,  we 
were  told,  one  wholly  dissentient  voice.  Much  applause 
was  elicited  by  a  certain  story  of  a  man  who  asked  for  the 
best  and  the  worst  food  in  the  world,  to  whom  was  brought 
twice  over  a  dish  of  tongues,  an  apologue  of  the  value  of 
women,  reminding  one  of  Tennyson's — 

"  Men  differ  but  as  heaven  and  earth, 
But  women,  best  and  worst,  as  heaven  and  hell." 

The  arguments  used,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  this 
country,  were  just  those  which  are  most  familiar  to  us,  the 
heirs  of  all  the  ages  :  that  woman  has  wide  responsibilities, 
that  she  is  not  only  in  herself  important  to  the  comfort  of 
others,  but  the  guardian  and  companion  of  childhood,  and 
that  the  child  is  father  of  the  man.  It  is  fair,  perhaps,  to 
add  that  the  women  present  looked,  for  the  most  part,  wholly 
uninterested  in  the  question,  and  were  themselves  eloquent 
testimony  to  their  own  need  of  development.  They  were  per- 
fectly decorous  and  orderly  ;  they  did  not  whisper  or  giggle 
or  make  eyes  at  the  men,  as  the  same  class  of  girls  would  do 
at  any  meeting  in  any  schoolroom  in  England  ;  but  they 
sat  uncomfortably  on  the  unaccustomed  chair,  stuck  their 
feet  out  in  front  of  them,  looked  stolid,  and  when  refresh- 
ments were  handed  round,  ate  and  drank  in  eager  silence,  as 
if  thankful  to  welcome  something  tangible  at  last ! 

Their  common  sayings  testify,  if  not  always  in  compli- 
mentary fashion,  to  the  influence  of  women.  "  It  is  useless 
to  try  and  explain  a  matter  quietly  to  an  angry  woman," 
say  the  Arabs.  ';  Allah  has  given  man  a  mind,  a  long  spirit 
and  a  beard,  whereas  to  most  women  he  has  given  only  a  long 
tongue." 

The  author  of  Haji  Baba,  who  has  so  thoroughly  entered 
into  the  spirit  of  Oriental  life,  puts  into  the  mouth  of  one 

255 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  his  characters  the  remark,  That  when  a  woman  meddles 
with  anything  "  pena  be  Khoda,  it  is  time  to  put  one's  trust 
in  God!" 

The  conventional  reproach  of  women  is  as  a  rule  that  of 
vanity  and  chatter.  For  vanity  the  woman  of  Palestine 
has  but  little  scope  as  understood  by  a  European.  When 
she  has  a  new  dress  it  is  exactly  like  the  last ;  like  her  grand- 
mother's, probably  like  her  grandchild's.  We  are  not,  of 
course,  referring  to  those  to  whom  the  English  missionaries 
have  introduced  ill-cut  blouses,  draggle-tailed  skirts,  sailor 
hats  and  brown  shoes,  but  of  those  who  at  the  most  have 
exchanged  the  mandil  and  izzar  for  the  modest  white  kerchief 
or  the  graceful  mantilla  of  black  lace,  so  general  among  the 
congregations  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches,  that  one 
speculates  as  to  its  having  been  copied  from  pilgrims  from 
Spain  or  other  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean.  What  she  lacks 
in  variety  of  dress,  however,  she  makes  up  in  ornaments, 
and  her  jewels  are  often  beautiful  in  workmanship  and 
design. 

On  a  certain  occasion,  however,  when  we  were  privileged  to 
attend  a  large  evening  party  of  Moslem  ladies,  we  regretted 
to  see  that  some  of  the  more  fashionable  were  wearing 
"  Parisian  diamonds  "  and  dresses  which  looked  as  if  they 
had  been  bought  at  a  July  sale  in  Oxford  Street  and  slept  in 
since.  All,  however,  arrived  in  the  orthodox  mandil  and 
izzar,  carrying  in  their  hands  embroidered  squares — such  as 
are  bought  at  Liberty's  for  table-centres  and  chair-backs — 
the  object  of  which  was  soon  displayed.  It  seemed  to  be 
etiquette  for  the  hostess  to  meet  each  guest,  help  to  remove 
the  double  sheet  of  white  calico  in  which  she  was  enveloped, 
and  wrap  it  in  the  embroidered  square  for  identification 
when  it  was  time  to  leave. 

The  etiquette  of  the  occasion,  though  it  permitted  certain 
relaxations  to  which  we  are  unaccustomed,  appeared  to  be 
extremely  rigid  in  other  directions.  Social  distinctions  were 
marked,  not  by  precedence  in  entering  or  leaving  the  room, 

256 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

but  by  selection  of  seats.  The  hostess  was  not  required  to 
look  in  any  local  Debrett  for  the  oldest  title,  as  each  lady 
settled  her  own  affairs  by  the  simple  process  of  elbowing  out 
any  one  whom  she  considered  out  of  place.  We,  dogs  of 
Franks  that  we  are,  had  ignorantly  taken  our  seats  upon  the 
divan  destined  for  our  betters,  who  very  shortly  contrived 
by  pressure  right  and  left  to  make  our  tenure  impossible, 
when  we  meekly  withdrew  to  isolation  and  cane  chairs. 

All,  even  those  in  European  costumes,  wore  high  dresses, 
and  to  be  decolletee  is  regarded  as  gross  indecency.  The 
custom  among  a  certain  class  of  continental  ladies  of  baring 
their  necks  in  the  day-time,  and  which  has  been  imitated 
by  the  Levantines,  is  commented  upon  here  by  natives  in 
language  so  exceedingly  definite  that  one  can  hardly  refrain 
on  public  occasions  from  begging  the  ladies  to  put  on  a  shawl 
and  spare  our  blushes.  Naturally  one  dines  among  Euro- 
peans in  the  same  costume  as  at  home.  Another  point 
of  etiquette  was  involved  in  the  fashion  of  greeting.  The 
inferior  in  age  or  position  takes  the  hand  of  the  other  and 
raises  it  to  her  lips  and  forehead,  and  when  there  is  no  such 
obvious  inferiority  there  is  a  friendly  contest  as  to  which 
shall  perform  the  graceful  salute.  The  commonplace  hand- 
shake is,  however,  now  becoming  only  too  general.  The 
ladies  smoked  abundantly,  and  when  the  first  chill  of  cere- 
mony had  worn  off,  tucked  up  their  legs  as  well  as  the  dignity 
of  sitting  on  chairs  and  divans  would  permit,  many  kicking 
off  their  shoes  for  greater  convenience.  Those  who  were 
nursing-mothers  had  their  babies  brought  to  them  for  re- 
freshment, and  when  cakes  were  handed  round  there  were 
some  who  turned  them  over  with  their  fingers  in  order  to 
select  the  specimens  they  fancied.  They  ate  and  drank  the 
whole  evening ;  coffee,  weak  tea  with  rose-water  in  it, 
lemonade  and  tumblers  of  water,  accompanied  by  spoonfuls 
of  jam.  The  children  of  the  household  sang,  danced  and 
acted  little  dramas  for  their  amusement,  but  their  manners 
in  this  connexion  had  so  entirely  "  that  repose  which  marks 

257  s 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

the  caste  of  Vere  de  Vere  "  that  they  displayed  no  interest 
whatever. 

One  little  girl,  who  looked  too  childish  to  go  to  parties, 
seemed  so  sad  and  weary  that  we  asked  the  cause,  and  heard 
that  she  came  from  a  distant  village,  and  had  been  lately 
married  to  a  husband  who  had  made  no  effort  to  conceal 
his  disappointment,  not  in  her  character  or  acquirements, 
but  in  her  appearance.  The  poor  little  thing  was  just  at 
the  stage  when,  at  home,  she  would  have  had  long  black  legs, 
short  shapeless  frocks  and  a  pigtail ;  when  her  joys  would 
have  been  puppies  and  fairy  stories,  and  her  sorrows  vulgar 
tractions  and  French  verbs  !  Here,  a  stranger  in  Jerusalem, 
without  even  a  girl  friend,  she  sat  silent  in  pathetic  dignity, 
her  eyes  full  of  unshed  tears  because  her  husband  neglected 
her  for  being  too  thin  ! 

The  idleness  of  which  the  Mohammedan  woman  is  accused 
differs  in  kind  from  that  of  the  idle  Englishwoman,  owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  shops,  the  absence  of  change  of  fashion, 
the  duration  of  her  clothing  (which,  unless  she  buys 
European  material,  is  usually  of  excellent  quality),  and 
her  innocence  of  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing,  at  least 
among  those  of  the  elder  generation.  She  has  no  magazines, 
newspapers,  nor  fashion  plates  ;  no  tennis,  no  croquet,  no 
bicycle,  no  motor  car  ;  but  she  pays  visits,  gossips,  goes  out 
to  afternoon  tea,  which  probably  consists  of  coffee,  cakes  and 
sweet  syrup,  with  true  suburban  enthusiasm.  Her  house  is 
spotless  ;  her  furniture,  probably  covered  with  white,  is 
trimmed  with  needle  lace  infinitely  tedious  to  make,  the  only 
material  being  a  needle  and  thread.  She  supervises  the 
cooking,  which  is  inconceivably  elaborate,  some  of  the  dishes 
needing  many  hours  to  prepare. 

We  have  seen  beautiful  needlework  in  the  hands  of 
members  of  two  communities  in  Jerusalem — one  Latin, 
the  other  American — "  orders  "  on  behalf  of  the  Pasha, 
in  both  cases  cut  out  and  arranged  in  every  detail  by 
his  wife  ;  we  have  seen  Moslem  ladies  industriously  work- 

258 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

ing  for  the  poor,  not  only  making,  but,  what  to  many  women 
is  more  meritorious,  mending  for  children  or  for  the  old.  We 
have  asked  what  became  of  widows  or  old  women  alone  in 
the  world,  and  almost  debarred  by  custom  and  tradition 
from  going  out  into  the  world  to  earn  a  living.1  Why  should 
we  ask  such  a  question  ?  Surely  they  have  children,  or,  if 
not,  they  can  return  to  their  parents,  or  at  the  worst  they 
have  friends  ! 

The  possession  of  children  is  taken  for  granted.  The  first 
question  asked  when  one  visits  a  native  house  here  is  gene- 
rally :  "  Have  you  one  boy  or  two  ?  "  The  form  of  the 
question  is  courteous.  It  is  intended  on  the  one  hand  to 
give  you  an  opportunity  for  the  possible  triumph  of  announc- 
ing a  larger  number,  on  the  other  to  protect  you  from  the 
humiliation  of  having  to  own  to  only  girls.  On  one  such 
occasion  we  explained  that  though  of  mature  years  we  were 
unmarried,  and  that  such  a  condition  of  things  was  not 
wholly  unknown  among  English  ladies,  even  those  possessed 
of  a  dowry  equivalent  to  many  camels,  and  of  appearance 
which,  according  to  our  standard,  is  quite  passable.  Our 
hostess  sighed  wearily  as  she  looked  around  at  her  numerous 
olive-branches,  and  remarked,  "  It  is  better  so."  "  Elle  a 
enfante  a  douze  ans,"  frankly  explained  a  son  of  about  four- 
teen, who  was  studying  at  the  school  of  the  "  Christian 
Brothers,"  and  could  recite  passages  from  Hamlet  and 
Macbeth. 

One  learns  from  books  that  girl  children  do  not  count ; 
perhaps  that  may  be  so  among  the  peasants,  but  in  the 
Moslem  homes  of  Jerusalem  the  little  girls  seem  to  receive 
their  full  share  of  affection  and  attention,  and  now  even  of 
education. 

Even  among  the  peasants,  however,  a  girl  has  not  merely 
her  uses,  but  her  practical  value.  When  she  is  born  the 
disappointment  is  broken  to  the  anxious  father  in  the  phrase 
"  Blessed  be  the  bride,"  a  reminder  that  when  marriageable 

1  Not  wholly ;  some  are  engaged  in  teaching,  some  in  needlework. 

259 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

she  will  be  worth  from  about  £16  upwards  to  £50  or  more, 
according  to  her  age,  utility  and  appearance.  At  twelve 
years  old  she  can  carry  the  pitcher  to  the  well,  knead,  bake, 
cook  ;  if  there  be  but  one  boy  in  the  family,  she  has  probably 
acted  the  part  of  shepherd. 

Here,  however,  as  elsewhere,  a  woman  occasionally  makes 
herself  cheap,  and  a  lady  was  pointed  out  to  us  whose  first 
husband,  it  is  alleged,  in  moments  of  domestic  difference 
taunted  her  with  the  fact  that  he  got  her  for  a  donkey  with- 
out a  tail.  Left  a  widow — possibly  with  means — she  has  since 
acquired  a  second  husband  under  conditions  more  worthy. 

We  have  seldom  met  with  instances  of  marriage  so  shock- 
ingly early  among  Moslems  as  among  native  Christians 
and  Jews,  possibly  because  of  the  greater  social  restraint 
usual  among  the  better  class  followers  of  the  prophet. 

There  are  unfortunately  certain  Arabs  and  other  inhabi- 
tants of  Syria  who  disgrace  themselves  by  appearing  to 
consider  the  title  of  "  Arab  "  disgraceful,  who  seize  upon 
the  most  ridiculous  pretexts  to  Frenchify  or  Anglicize  their 
names,  and  who  in  educating  their  children  to  pass  as  Euro- 
peans, seek  their  own  individual  advantage  instead  of  the 
elevation  of  their  country.  The  woman,  as  being  naturally 
less  advanced  than  the  man,  suffers  and  loses  most.  In  dis- 
carding her  native  dress  and  assuming  one  in  which  she  looks 
about  as  much  at  home  as  an  English  soldier  in  a  Highland 
kilt,  she  loses  her  grace,  her  "  cachet,"  her  dignity,  and  is  as 
ridiculous  as  the  English  tourist  who  borrows  a  Bethlehem 
dress  to  be  photographed  in.  Her  magnificent  hair,1  which 
in  a  plait  as  broad  as  your  hand  was  tucked  into  her  belt  to 
be  out  of  the  way,  is  wasted  in  a  fashionable  coiffure  ;  the 
stately  carriage,  robbed  of  the  veil  which  lent  it  grace,  be- 
comes a  mere  strut ;  her  figure,  with  its  Oriental  abun- 
dance, not  to  say  abandon,  reluctantly  corseted,  degenerates 

1  The  Jewish  traditions  represent  God  as  plaiting  the  hair  of  Eve 
before  presenting  her  to  Adam. 

260 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

into  inevitable  coarseness  where  it  was  at  least  potential^ 
statuesque. 

M.  Clermont  Ganneau  has  pointed  out  that  in  Palestine,  as 
often  elsewhere,  the  depositories  of  tradition,  the  custodians 
of  ancient  forms  and  beliefs,  are  the  women.  It  is  from  them 
that  one  might  learn,  as  no  one  has  yet  learnt,  at  least  for 
publication,  ancient  customs  of  dances  and  funerals,  songs  1 
of  occasions  of  joy  and  sorrow,  and  suggestive  traditions  of 
the  toilet,  of  tattooing  and  of  embroidery.  It  is  they  who, 
by  refusing  to  buy  any  other  kind,  have  perpetuated  the 
patterns  of  their  jewels  and  their  painted  boxes,  in  a  country 
where  the  indigenous  art  has  been  always  of  the  most  rudi- 
mentary kind  ;  whose  straw  dishes,  shield-shaped,  beautiful 
in  colour  and  simple  of  design,  are  probably  what  they  were 
a  thousand  years  ago  ;  who  have  associated  with  certain 
villages  their  own  special  dress,  water-bottles,  vessels  for 
grain  and  house  decorations. 

That  no  one,  at  least  that  no  English  person,2  has  collected 
information  from  the  women,  is  easily  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  strict  separation  of  the  sexes  has  prevented  any 
man  from  taking  advantage  of  the  possibilities,  and  that  the 
only  women  who  have  had  the  opportunity,  the  missionaries, 
have  not  been  of  a  type  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  useful  and 
valuable  as  it  would  be  to  the  antiquarian,  the  anthropolo- 
gist, the  humanitarian,  and,  one  would  have  imagined,  the 
intelligent  religious  teacher. 

There  are  some  curious  anomalies  in  the  position  of  Moslem 
women  in  Palestine.  It  is  said  that  one  must  not  speak  to  a 
Mohammedan  of  his  shoes  or  of  his  wife  ;  nevertheless,  I 

1  In  a  collection  of  over  a  thousand  Bedouin  songs,  made  by  a 
certain  Hamasa  of  Abu  Tammam,  forty-five  of  the  authors  men- 
tioned are  women. 

2  One    must,  however,    except    the   works   so    valuable    to  the 
psychological   student,  of    Lady  Burton    and    Miss    Rogers,    The 
Inner  Life  of  Syria,  and   Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,   written  before 
the  days  when  the  Englishwoman  had  excluded  herself  from   the 
confidence  of  the  native. 

261 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

have  myself  heard  a  Moslem  speak  with  gentleness  and 
respect  of  his  mother,  his  sister-in-law  and  his  nieces  ;  he 
did  not  happen,  although  over  thirty  years  of  age,  to  have  a 
wife.  Another  invited  us  to  his  house  in  order  that  we 
might  have  the  privilege  of  seeing  his  wife,  the  daughter  of 
an  important  sheikh  and  a  very  beautiful  woman.  She  is 
the  mother  of  many  daughters,  but  of  no  son.  We  asked 
whether  he  proposed  to  supplement  or  even  divorce  her. 
"  No,  indeed,"  he  replied  ;  "  she  is  a  good  wife,  and  it  is  the 
will  of  Allah  !  "  He  belongs  to  a  well-to-do  family,  and  has 
several  brothers,  each  of  whom  has  but  one  wife.  They  all 
live  on  their  own  property  in  houses  adjoining.  In  more 
than  one  the  tesselated  pavement  of  a  crusading  church 
crops  up  through  the  mud-floor  of  the  kitchen.  "  These  are 
holy  things,  and  the  house  is  blessed,"  said  our  hostess.  In 
cleanliness  and  order  the  house  was  certainly  blessed,  and 
we  were  struck  by  the  fact  that  the  eldest  girl,  though 
apparently  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  handsome  and  well- 
off,  was  not  yet  appropriated. 

"  That  which  I  have  in  my  house,"  or  "  the  thing  which 
is  within,"  are  curious  euphemisms  for  the  honoured  name  of 
"  wife  "  ;  but  though  I  have  not  seen  the  suggestion  made,  I 
venture  to  think  that  such  phrases  may  not  be  intended,  as 
the  Occidental  supposes,  in  pure  insult.  Wherever  there  is 
fear  of  the  Evil  Eye,  or  of  the  Powers  of  Evil,1  there  is  usually 
some  effort  made  at  distracting  their  attention.  Thus  a 
Moslem  will  speak  of  his  children  as  "  the  protected  ones  "  ; 
of  a  cemetery  as  "  the  house  of  the  living  "  ;  of  the  Wely  of 
his  village  as  "  the  father  of  the  Crescent,"  "  the  strength 
of  the  faith,"  in  precisely  the  same  spirit  in  which  a  High- 
lander will  say  blue  when  he  means  green,  lest  he  attract  the 
attention  of  the  fairies.  The  Moslem,  and  often  the  Jew, 
in  this  country  will  avoid  the  mention  of  the  number  five, 
possibly  from  association  of  ideas  with  the  fingers  every- 

1  See  chapter  on  "  The  Powers  of  Evil,"  in  Outer  Isles  (Messrs. 
Constable,  1902),  by  A.  Goodrich-Freer. 

262 


THE  MOSLEM  IN  HIS   RELATION  TO  WOMEN 

where  displayed  as  protection  against  the  Evil  Eye.  "How 
many  eggs  for  a  piastre  ?  "  you  ask.  "  The  number  of  your 
hand,"  is  the  reply. 

The  Moslem  house,  whether  large  or  small,  generally  shows 
traces  of  its  origin  in  the  days  when,  for  protection  and  for 
concealment  of  its  inmates,  it  turned  dead  walls  to  the  road 
and  gave  entirely  on  to  a  central  court.  Many  of  these  still 
exist :  the  house  is  of  one  storey,  the  rooms  domed,  the 
roofs  flat ;  in  the  older  houses  the  roofs  are  walled,  but 
pierced  with  what  look  like  drain  pipes,  enabling  the  women 
to  look  out  without  being  seen.  The  communication  with 
the  outer  world  is  by  a  passage  having  a  door  at  either  end. 
The  eunuch  of  the  story-books  is  now  replaced  by  a  peasant 
servant,  who  violates  no  proprieties  if  she  answers  the  door 
and  bargains  with  tradespeople.  In  humbler  homes  it  is 
very  common  to  see  a  man  colloguing  through  a  crack,  the 
door  being  open  an  inch  or  two,  and  the  woman  with  whom 
he  is  dealing  behind  it.  Within,  one  finds  a  number  of 
entirely  independent  dwellings,  large  or  small,  according  to 
the  requirements  of  the  owner.  The  court  is  often  filled 
with  shrubs  and  flowers,  planted  probably  in  kerosene  tins, 
such  being  the  flower-boxes  of  the  country,  but  often  painted 
or  otherwise  decorated.  In  one  room  you  will  find  the 
mother  of  the  master  of  the  house,  perhaps  a  widowed  or 
unmarried  sister  ;  in  other  rooms  the  wife,  or,  let  us  sup- 
pose, wives,  though  we  have  not  met  with  any  such  instance. 
The  Moslem  law  forbids  any  man  to  keep  two  wives  in  one 
house,  which  also  helps  to  account  for  the  fact  that  a  "  house  " 
here  means  the  section  of  an  aggregation  of  independent 
rooms,  or  suites  of  rooms.  The  next  stage  in  the  history  of 
the  Moslem  house  is  the  covering  in  of  the  courtyard,  giving 
a  handsome  central  room  or  rooms,  often  divided  by  pillars 
and  paved  with  marble.  It  is  often  so  arranged  by  division, 
at  perhaps  a  third  of  its  length,  as  to  furnish  a  handsome 
entrance  hall  or  leewan,  used  as  a  reception-room,  on  to 
which  open  the  public  rooms,  or  rooms  for  the  gentlemen  of 

263 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

the  household,  often  brothers  or  sons  of  the  householder. 
The  inner  part,  or  beit  diwan,  a  sort  of  general  salon,  is  the 
centre  upon  which  open  the  doors  of  the  private  rooms  of 
the  ladies.  The  kitchens  are  often  outside,  and  as  a  rule  are 
mere  cupboards  containing  a  small  charcoal  stove,  which 
would  be  the  scorn  of  a  European  cook,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  of  its  kind  Arab  cookery  is  generally  excellent,  especi- 
ally as  to  rice,  vegetables,  sweet  cakes  and  puddings,  and 
of  course  coffee. 

As  the  Moslems  are  in  Jerusalem  the  landlords  of  the 
English,  who,  alone  among  Europeans,  have  little  property 
(with  the  recent  exception  of  St.  George's  Collegiate  build- 
ings), an  effort  has  been  made  to  meet  European  tastes,  and 
houses  are  now  very  generally  built  with  an  upper  floor,  and 
often,  unfortunately  for  the  sanitary  and  the  picturesque, 
with  tiled  and  sloping  roofs. 

In  this  case  the  upper  floor  is  usually  a  duplicate  of  the 
lower,  and  provision  is  commonly  made  by  means  of  an  outside 
staircase  for  division  into  two  separate  houses,  should  the 
Moslems  at  any  time  occupy  the  building  themselves.  It  is 
generally  easy  to  ascertain  whether  the  house  is  in  Moslem 
or  Christian  occupation  by  a  glance  at  the  sabeel,  or  recess 
for  water,  which  the  pious  Mohammedan  always  constructs 
in  his  outer  wall,  and  which  by  a  beautiful  custom  is  in 
memory  of  the  dead,  and  as  a  covenant  with  God  for  the 
protection  of  the  house,  kept  full  of  water  for  the  refresh- 
ment of  passers-by,  water  being  one  of  the  luxuries  as  well 
as  one  of  the  urgent  necessities  of  the  country.  If  the  house 
belongs  to  a  Christian,  the  sabeel  is  usually  blocked  up  with 
stones,  leaving  the  promise  of  the  reward  for  the  giving  of  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  be  inherited  by  those  on  behalf  of 
whose  souls  we  have  been  spending  about  £16,000  a  year  for 
half  a  century.  A  striking  example  of  the  fact  may  be  seen 
where  two  Moslem-built  houses  stand  side  by  side  on  the 
high  road  as  one  enters  Jerusalem.  Here,  at  all  hours  of 
the  day,  one  meets  fellaheen  coming  in  from  distant  villages, 

264 


THE   MOSLEM   IN   HIS   RELATION   TO  WOMEN 

from  the  mountains,  bringing  vegetables,  fruit,  cheese, 
eggs,  or  game  to  the  market;  asses  laden  with  wood  and 
coal ;  camels  bearing  an  incredible  weight  of  stones  from 
some  distant  quarry;  all  weary  and  heavy  laden,  for  the 
way  has  been  long  and  dusty,  shelterless  and  arid.  Here 
man  and  beast  can  squat  beneath  the  shelter  of  the 
wall,  and  the  tough,  dry  bread  they  carry  with  them  is 
dipped  in  water  and  distributed  among  the  little  group. 
A  few  paces  beyond  is  another  sabeel,  but  the  house  is  rented 
by  the  English  Missionaries,  and  the  wayfarer  turns  away 
weary  and  disappointed  to  find  it  choked  with  dust  and 
ashes. 


265 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   MOSLEM  FAITH    IN  JERUSALEM 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  EAST — THE  INFLUENCE  OF  ISLAM — THE 
CAREER  OF  MOHAMMED — His  RELATION  TO  JEW  AND 
CHRISTIAN — RELIGION  AMONG  WOMEN — OBSERVANCE 
OF  RELIGIOUS  DUTIES — THE  LOWER  ANIMALS 

Reposeful,  patient,  undemonstrative, 

Luxurious,  enigmatically  sage, 

Dispassionately  cruel,  might  look  doom 

On  all  the  fever  of  the  Occident. 

The  brooding  mother  of  the  unfilial  world 

Recumbent  on  her  own  antiquity, 

Aloof  from  our  mutations  and  unrest, 

Alien  to  our  achievements  and  desires. 

Too  proud  alike  for  protest  or  assent 

When  new  thoughts  thunder  at  her  massy  door  ; 

Another  brain  dreaming  another  dream. 

Another  heart,  recalling  other  loves. 

Too  gray  and  grave  for  our  adventurous  hopes, 

For  our  precipitate  pleasures  too  august ; 

And,  in  majestic  taciturnity, 

Refraining  her  illimitable  scorn. 

IF  Mr.  William  Watson,  as  is  alleged,  were  inspired  by 
a  cat  to  the  writing  of  these  lines  on  the  genius  of  the 
East,  it  was  undoubtedly  a  Persian  cat — a  cat  whose  ances- 
tors had  "  heard  the  East  a  calling,"  who,  though  she  had 
accepted  the  beef  and  mutton  of  England,  the  salmon  and 
sardines,  the  cow's  milk  and  Brussels  carpets,  together  with 
the  damp,  the  draughts,  the  precarious  weather,  the  society 
of  her  short-haired  cousins,  had  done  so  with  "  majestic 
taciturnity,  refraining  her  illimitable  scorn." 

266 


THE   MOSLEM   FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  East  is  courteous,  too  courteous,  as  well  as  "  too 
proud  for  protest  or  assent,  when  new  thoughts  thunder  at 
her  massy  door."  She  passes  the  palm  of  her  right  hand 
over  the  palm  of  her  left ;  the  palm  of  her  left  over  the  palm 
of  her  right,  and  says,  "  Maktub  " — "  It  is  decreed."  The 
West  "  gives  voice  to  our  adventurous  hopes."  She  closes 
dreamy  eyes,  and  murmurs,  "  Inshallah  " — "  If  God  will." 
We  lay  at  her  feet  our  mutations  and  unrest,  our  achieve- 
ments and  desires,  our  dreams,  our  loves,  our  hopes.  To 
India  we  bring  a  civilization  which  is  barbarism  compared 
to  her  own  in  ages  before  we  came  into  existence  ;  to  Syria, 
the  religion  which  was  hers  while  we  were  burning  human 
sacrifices  and  dressing  in  blue  paint ;  to  Egypt,  education 
and  politics,  which  are  child's  play  to  the  memories  of 
sphinx  and  pyramid ;  and,  "  with  another  brain  dreaming 
another  dream,  another  heart  recalling  other  loves,"  she 
awakens  for  one  moment's  contemplation  of  our  offerings, 
and  "  reposeful,  patient,  undemonstrative," — above  all 
"  enigmatically  sage,"  looking  it  may  be  "  doom  on  all  the 
fever  of  the  Occident,"  barely  changing  her  attitude,  "re- 
cumbent on  her  own  antiquity,"  she  asks  only,  "  Ana 
aalam  ?  Allah  yaalam." — "  Do  I  know  ?  God  knows." 

It  is  the  attitude  of  Orientalism,  above  all  of  Islam,  the 
religion  of  which  the  name  signifies  the  resigning  or  devoting 
one's  self,  on  the  theory  that  the  devotion  be  entirely  to 
God  and  to  His  service.  The  ostrich,  says  the  Oriental, 
is  the  symbol  of  faith  ;  she  hatches  her  eggs  x  by  expec- 
tantly looking  upon  them.  "  Everything  comes  to  him  who 
waits,"  is  assuredly  the  motto  of  the  East ;  she  is  "  the 
brooding  mother  of  an  unfilial  world." 

"  The  East,"  says  Disraeli,  "  is  a  career."  It  is  not,  as 
the  tourist  supposes,  a  museum  of  antiquities  through  which 
to  scamper,  Baedeker  in  hand.  Jerusalem  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood in  the  course  of  a  "  pious  picnic,"  or  other  personally 

1  The  churches  of  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  are  commonly  decor- 
ated with  eggs  as  a  sacred  symbol. 

267 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

conducted  tour,  still  less  in  the  prejudiced  purview  of  a  Pro- 
testant crusade. 

"  A  horror  of  the  common  groove,  of  the  cab-shafts  of 
civilization,  of  the  contamination  of  cities,  of  the  vulgarities 
of  life,  takes  its  hold  of  me,"  writes  Lady  Burton  ;  "  and 
I  yearn  for  the  desert  to  recover  the  purity  of  my  mind,  and 
the  dignity  of  human  nature,  to  be  regenerated  among 
the  Arabs." 

It  may  be  a  dream,  a  farce,  a  pose,  a  vision  born  of  self- 
suggestion,  a  hypnotization,  what  you  will ;  but  only  in 
some  such  mood,  the  mood  of  patience,  of  detachment,  the 
mood  of  the  poet  who  makes,  not  of  the  critic  who  destroys, 
can  one  approximate,  however  faintly,  to  that  sympathy 
which  alone  is  understanding  of  the  East. 

The  East,  so  far  as  one  knows  it  here,  is  mainly  the 
East  of  Islam.  The  sons  of  Isaac,  through  "  the  long 
cruel  night  in  Jewry  which  coincides  with  the  Christian  era,"  * 
have  lost,  with  much  else,  something  of  their  Orientalism  ; 
the  sons  of  Ishmael  alone,  save  those  few  who  have  some 
modern  veneer  of  Christianity,2  are  all  children  of  the  desert 
still.  To  us  of  other  dreams,  Islam  makes,  and  seeks  to 
make,  no  appeal ;  it  is  a  faith  which  contains  none  of  such 
elements  as  the  cynic  conventionally  supposes  to  be,  in  vary- 
ing degrees,  essential  to  the  spiritual  pabulum  of  the  Western 
soul. 

What  is  it  which,  with  Paganism,  Judaism,  Christianity 
before  them  for  alternative,  attracted  that  little  group  of 
Eastern  thinkers  who  are  the  ancestors  of  the  two  hundred 
millions  of  our  fellow-creatures,  whose  creed  is  "  resignation 
to  the  will  of  the  One  God  "  ? — incomparably  the  largest 
band  of  adherents  to  any  one  creed  in  the  entire  human  race 
and  in  the  course  of  human  history  ? 

It  is  not  that  influence  of  priestcraft  by  which  the  Pro- 
testant accounts  for  the  existence  of  the  Catholic,  Roman  or 

1  Zangwill.  Children  of  the  Ghetto. 

2  The  Syrians,  be  it  remembered,  are  not  Arab. 

268 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN    JERUSALEM 

Anglican,  for  they  have  no  priests,  no  sacerdotalism  what- 
ever ;  it  is  not  the  "  religion-made-easy "  by  which  the 
Catholic  accounts  for  the  Protestant,  for  they  pray,  men,  and 
often  women,  five  times  a  day,  and  abstain  from  all  food 
from  dawn  to  sunset  thirty  consecutive  days  in  the  year. 
It  is  not  that  the  absence  of  ecclesiasticism  lightens  the  cost 
of  religion,  for  they  must  give  a  definite  share  of  all  posses- 
sions to  the  poor,  and  a  tenth  of  the  margin  that  is  left.  It 
is  not  that  idle  repose  in  hereditary  conservatism  which 
satisfies  the  mere  Sunday  church-goer,  for  is  it  not  written  : 

"  It  is  not  righteousness  that  ye  turn  your  faces  in  prayer 
towards  the  East  and  the  West,  but  righteousness  is  of  him  who 
believeth  in  God  and  the  Last  Day,  and  the  angels,  and  the 
Scriptures,  and  the  prophets,  who  giveth  money  for  God's  sake 
.  .  .  who  is  constant  at  prayer,  and  giveth  alms,  and  of 
those  who  perform  their  covenant  .  .  .  and  who  behave  them- 
selves patiently  in  adversity,  and  hardships,  and  in  time  of 
violence  :  these  are  they  who  are  true  and  fear  God" — EL 
KORAN,  c.  ii. 

It  is  not  the  sensuousness  of  which  the  colder  North 
accuses  the  votary  of  Ultramontanism,  for  they  have  neither 
music  nor  incense  ;  they  have  no  Sacraments ;  no  vestments ; 
they  are  even  commanded  to  come  before  God  in  simple 
clothing,  for  Islam  has  a  special  blessing  for  those  who  are 
poor  in  spirit.  It  is  not  that  fear  of  public  opinion  which 
is  the  temptation  of  those  who  "  assemble  themselves  to- 
gether," for  their  religion  is  individual,  its  ritual  independ- 
dent  of  place.  At  the  hour  of  prayer  the  Moslem  ceases 
from  his  occupation  as  the  devout  Catholic  at  sound  of  the 
Angelus,  makes  the  necessary  ablutions,  and,  turning  his  face 
towards  Mecca,  offers  his  praise  to  "  the  All-Compassionate, 
the  All-Merciful."  It  is  not  the  easy-going  irreverence 
which  so  often  accompanies  a  lack  of  ritual,  for  none  may 
come  into  the  presence  of  God  nor  even  touch  the  Sacred 
Book  without  due  ablution,  for  "  the  practice  of  religion  is 
founded  on  cleanliness,  which  is  the  one  half  of  the  faith, 

269 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

and  the  key  of  prayer,  without  which  it  will  not  be  heard  by 
God.1"  It  is  not  the  human  yearning  for  certainty,  for 
dogma  ;  for  the  whole  faith  is  involved  in  the  unity  of  God 
and  submission  to  His  will ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  the 
carelessness  of  living  which  lack  of  dogma  facilitates,  for  it 
is  a  creed  of  works  as  well  as  faith,  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, of  the  futility  of  a  death-bed  repentance. 

"  No  repentance  shall  be  accepted  from  those  who  do  evil  until 
the  time  when  death  presenteth  itself  unto  one  of  them,  and  he 
saith  verily,  I  repent  now  ;  nor  unto  those  who  die  unbelievers  ; 
for  them  nave  we  prepared  a  grievous  punishment" — EL 
KORAN,  chap.  iv. 

\  It  is  not  that  it  makes  easy  the  conditions  of  the  religious 
life,  for  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  teaching  of  the 
Koran  comprises  not  only  all  the  Commandments,  but  the 
spirit  of  all  the  Beatitudes.  It  is  not  individual  irresponsi- 
bility, for  their  creed  teaches  no  absolution,  no  propitiation, 
no  atonement,  no  doctrine  of  the  fall,  no  mitigation  of  sin 
by  hereditary  taint.  "  All  men  have  sinned,  but  it  has  been 
each  his  own  fault,  acting  independently  and  not  because 
of  anything  antecedent."  2  It  is  not,  as  superficial  readers 
of  the  Koran  have  alleged,  that  they  are  promised  a  Para- 
dise of  material  pleasures  only.  After  describing  these,  we 
are  told  that  there  are  prepared,  beside  all  this,  "  such  feelings 
as  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  hath  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  .  .  .  that  he  will  be  in  the 
highest  honour  with  God,  that  shall  behold  His  face  .  .  . 
that  all  other  pleasures  of  Paradise  will  be  forgotten  and 
lightly  esteemed,  and  not  without  reason,  since  every  other 
enjoyment  is  equally  tasted  by  the  very  brute  beast  who  is 
turned  loose  into  luxuriant  pasture."  3 

It  is  not  even,  as  commonly  alleged,  laxity  of  morals, 

1  Sale's  Koran  :  Preliminary  Discourse,  sec.  iv. 

2  Sir  William  Muir,  The  Kordn,  in  series   of   Non-Christian  Re- 
ligion-Systems, p.  54. 

3  Sale's  Kordn  :  Preliminary  Discourse,  sec.  iv. 

270 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

for  although  usury  and  betting  and  drink  and  "  the  social 
evil  "  are  found  in  the  East,  as  elsewhere,  it  is  as  a  rule  the 
Jew  and  the  Christian  by  whom  they  have  been  introduced, 
and  by  whom  they  are  supported.  The  long  neglected 
Jewish  law  that  the  woman  of  evil  life  shall  be  stoned  is  still 
active  in  Islam.  The  Christian  Government  of  the  British 
Empire  may  legalize  her  existence,  and  organize  her  rela- 
tions with  our  armies  ;  the  disciples  of  Moses  may  trade  and 
traffic  in  human  bodies  and  souls  ;  but  the  poorest  peasant 
among  the  Mohammedans  takes  the  life  of  the  daughter  who 
has  lost  her  virtue,  and  swears  an  eternal  blood-feud  against 
him  who  has  done  her  wrong. 

Polygamy,  urges  the  bigot,  with  his  usual  lack  of  informa- 
tion, polygamy,  with  all  its  laxity,  is  the  mask  for  Moslem 
immorality.  That  Mohammed  (himself  faithful  for  twenty- 
five  years  to  one  wife,  though  in  old  age  he  unhappily 
declined  from  his  own  standard),  in  reforming  the  example 
of  the  Old  Testament  saints,  then  still  in  vogue  among  the 
children  of  Ishmael,  did  not  venture  upon  further  severity 
than  the  limit  of  four  wives,  is  to  be  regretted  ;  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  at  least  in  Syria,  the  possession  of  more  than 
one  wife  is,  except  among  the  lowest  classes,  increasingly 
rare.  Personally  we  have  not  met  with  a  single  instance, 
though  such  undoubtedly  exist.  That  immoral  relations 
with  slaves  formerly  existed,1  is  unfortunately  as  true  as  that 
they  existed  among  our  own  Christian  brethren  until  the 
suppression  of  the  slave-trade  in  1833.  That  divorce  is  easy 
among  Mohammedans  is  as  unhappily  true  as  that  it  is  easy 
in  many  Christian  countries,  including  England,  where,  how- 
ever, it  is  more  expensive,  and  therefore  the  privilege  mainly 

1  Sir  William  Muir  points  out  that  the  prophet  himself  always 
released  his  slaves,  and  that  his  relations  with  his  domestic  servants 
were  so  friendly  that  he  mentions  some  fourteen  or  fifteen  of  them 
by  name.  "  They  are  the  servants  of  the  Lord,"  he  wrote  of  the 
slaves,  "  and  are  not  to  be  tormented."  It  is  related  that  in  honour 
of  the  prophet's  sixty-third  birthday,  sixty-three  slaves  were  set 
free. 

271 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  the  upper  classes.  I  appeal  again  to  the  erudition  and 
experience  of  Sir  William  Muir. 

"  The  comparison  of  Christian  with  Mohammedan  ethics 
is  not  altogether  free  from  difficulty.  The  Moslem  advocate 
will  urge  the  precedent  of  Jewish  polygamy,  and  also  the 
social  evils  which  he  will  assert  to  be  the  necessary  result  of 
inexorable  monogamy.  The  Koran  not  only  denounces  any 
illicit  laxity  between  the  sexes  in  the  severest  terms,  but 
exposes  the  transgressor  to  condign  punishment.  For  this 
reason,  and  because  the  conditions  of  what  is  illicit  are  so 
accommodating  and  wide,  a  certain  negative  virtue  (it  can 
hardly  be  called  continence  or  chastity)  pervades  Moham- 
medan society,  in  contrast  with  which  the  gross  and  syste- 
matic immorality  of  every  European  community  may  be 
regarded  by  the  Christian  with  shame  and  confusion.  In 
a  purely  Mohammedan  country,  however  low  may  be  the 
general  level  of  moral  feeling,  the  still  lower  depths  of  fallen 
humanity  are  comparatively  unknown.  The  social  evil  and 
intemperance,  prevalent  in  Christian  lands,  are  the  strongest 
weapons  in  the  armoury  of  Islam.  We  point,  and  justly,  to 
the  higher  morality  and  civilization  of  those  who  do  observe 
the  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  to  the  stricter  unity  and  virtue 
which  cement  the  family,  and  to  the  elevation  of  the  sex  ; 
but  in  vain,  while  the  example  of  our  great  cities,  and  too 
often  of  our  representatives  abroad,  belies  the  argument." 

And  so,  while  we  sing  "  they  call  us  to  deliver  their  land 
from  error's  chain,"  let  us  realize  that  here,  in  Moslem  cities, 
we  may  send  out  our  youngest  maid  with  no  further  caution 
than  not  to  get  her  pocket  picked  ;  we  may  take  a  cab, 
certain  that  our  driver,  unless  he  be  a  Christian,  will  not  be 
drunk.  We  have  no  fear  that  our  lads  will  take  to  racing 
or  gambling!  unless  it  be  among  the  Christian  tourists  of 
places  such  as  Cairo,  or  the  British  Government  officials 
farther  East ;  we  may  take  a  stroll  by  moonlight,  certain  that 

1  Sir  William  Muir,  The  Koran  :  its  Composition  and  Teaching, 
p.  62. 

272 


THE   MOSLEM   FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

our  eyes  will  not  be  offended  by  such  sights  as  the  most  care- 
fully protected  of  our  daughters  is  familiar  with  in  the 
Strand  or  Piccadilly ; *  that  we  shall  not  even  interrupt  the 
osculation  of  avowed  and  legitimate  sweethearts,  nor  find 
the  gardener  with  his  arm  round  the  housemaid's  waist ;  that 
here  lasses  dress  carefully  for  love  of  pretty  things,  and 
laugh  because  they  are  young  and  merry ;  that  there  is  no 
ogling  and  no  giggling  and  no  loitering  at  street  corners,  for 
'Arry  and  'Arriet  are  not.  To  be  "  as  drunk  as  a  lord  "  is 
no  part  of  the  ambition  of  even  the  most  idle  and  the  most 
unworthy,  and  the  poorest  girl  carries  herself  with  the 
dignity  which,  before  the  invasion  of  the  nouveau  riche, 
was  supposed,  among  Europeans,  to  be  the  speciality  of 
the  duchess.  With  ourselves  for  example  of  all 
Christian  charity,  of  brotherly  love,  of  morality  of  life, 
for  all  contrast  with  a  creed  which  makes  such  demands 
upon  its  votaries  as  theirs  ;  with  a  religion  of  which  its 
adherents  are  not  so  modern  as  to  be  ashamed ;  with  a  social 
system  free  from  all  which  we  habitually  summarize  as 
"  vice,"  one  can  hardly  wonder  that  the  statistics  of  con- 
version are  less  encouraging  than  the  readers  of  religioua 
journals  are  commonly  led  to  suppose. 

Though  the  history  of  Islam  is  familiar  to  most,  it  may  be 
well  to  remind  ourselves  briefly  of  such  of  its  essential 
features  as  continue  to  influence  the  Moslem  in  the  Jeru- 
salem of  to-day. 

Mohammed,  the  son  of  Amina  and  Abdallah,  was  born  at 
Mecca  about  570  A.D.  ;  of  the  family  of  Hashim,  of  the 
tribe  Koreish  ;  hereditary  custodians  of  the  Kaaba,  the 
sacred  stone  which  stands  to  the  descendants  of  Ishmael 
in  the  same  relation  as  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  to  the 

1  Lady  Strangford  has  well  said  (Preface  to  Stirring  Times),  "  In 
an  annual  volume  of  the  Rescue  Society  of  London  it  may  be  truly 
said  there  are  more  sorrowful  horrors  detailed  as  happening  in  the 
heart  of  our  civilized  capital  than  in  ten  years  of  Turkish  provincial 
history." 

273  T 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

descendants  of  Isaac  ;  the  centre  of  their  traditions,  the 
essential  cause  of  their  most  sacred  edifice. 

Like  his  ancestors,  Mohammed  kept  sheep  and  drove 
camels.  Early  left  an  orphan,  and  obliged  to  earn  his  own 
living,  he  followed  a  trading  caravan  to  Syria  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  At  twenty-five  he  went  thither  again,  and  on  his 
return  married  his  employer,  a  lady  of  higher  rank  than 
his  own,  but  considerably  his  senior,1  in  whose  society  he 
practised  all  the  domestic  virtues.  After  her  death, 
twenty-five  years  later,  when  he  had  reached  the  mature 
age  of  fifty-four,  and  fourteen  years  after  the  commence- 
ment of  his  mission,  he  deteriorated  in  this  direction. 

It  was  not  until  forty  years  of  age  that  he  became  con- 
scious of  a  mission,  although  many  of  his  utterances,  now 
included  in  the  Koran,  may  belong  to  an  earlier  period  ; 
as,  for  example,  the  Fdtihat,  which,  from  its  frequent  use 
in  public  and  private  worship,  may  be  said  to  be,  to  the 
Mohammedan,  what  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  to  the  Christian  : — 

Praise  be  to  God,  the  Lord  of  Creation, 

The  All-Merciful,  the  All-Compassionate  ; 

Ruler  of  the  Day  of  reckoning, 

Thee  we  worship,  and  Thee  we  invokejior  help. 

Lead  us  in  the  straight  path — 

The  path  of  those  upon  whom  Thou  hast  been  gracious, 

Not  of  those  that  are  the  objects  of  wrath  or  that  are  in  error. 

As  in  other  religions,  women  were  among  the  earliest 
converts,  and  for  the  first  five  years  of  Mohammed's  mission 
few  beside  would  hearken  to  his  message ;  the  world  then,  as 
in  all  ages,  being  ready  to  scoff  at  what  it  failed  to  under- 
stand ;  to  treat  as  a  charlatan  the  man  whose  limitations 
were  fewer  than  its  own.  The  world  has  always  its  "  This 
will  never  do  "  for  the  genius  who  transcends,  in  what- 

1  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  however,  that  in  enumerating  the  joys 
of  heaven,  Mohammed  again  and  again  promises  to  the  faithful, 
wives  "  of  the  same  age,"  and  that  when  he  induces  his  friend  Zaid 
to  espouse  a  lady  considerably  his  senior,  he  promises  him  paradise 
as  a  compensation. 

274 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

ever  direction,  the  petty  limitations  of  conventionality. 
Mohammed's  "  revelations  "  did  not  spare  such  as  these. 

— Because  he  is  to  Our  Signs  an  adversary, 

I  will  afflict  him  with  fierce  calamity  ; 

For  he  imagined  and  devised  mischief  in  his  heart. 

May  he  be  damned  !  how  he  devised  ! 

Again  may  he  be  damned  !  how  he  devised^! 

Then  he  looked, 

Then  he  frowned  and  scowled  ; 

Then  he  turned  his  back  and  looked  contemptuously  ; 

And  he  said,  Verily  this  is  nothing  but  Magic  that  will  be  wrought, 

Verily  this  is  no  other  than  the  speech  of  a  mortal. 

Truly,  the  Oriental,  from  the  Psalmist  onwards,  has 
known  how  to  curse  ! 

"  The  teaching  of  the  Goran,"  says  Sir  William  Muir,1 
"is  up  to  this  stage  very  simple.  Belief  in  the  Unity  of 
God,  and  in  Mahomet 2  as  His  messenger,  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead,  and  retribution  of  the  good  and  evil,  are 
perhaps  the  sole  doctrines  insisted  upon  ;  and  the  only 
duties  to  be  observed^  prayer  and  charity  and  honesty  in 
weights  and  measures,  truthfulness  in  testimony,  chastity 
and  the  faithful  observance  of  covenants." 

Perhaps  no  feature  of  the  Mohammedan  faith  strikes 
one  in  Jerusalem  as  more  pleasing  than  its  note  of  "  Live 
and  let  live."  You  may  constantly  see  the  Bible  among 
other  specimens  of  the  European  literature  which  the  pre- 
sent, and  still  more  the  rising,  generation  are  learning  to 
value  so  highly.  In  their  desire  for  education  they  are 
equally  ready  to  attend  the  schools  of  the  Latin  or  Anglican 
according  as  they  desire  to  cultivate  the  French  of  the 
Freres  Chretiens  or  the  English  of  the  Bishop's  school. 
Latterly,  many,  including  the  son  of  the  Pasha,  have 
attended  the  admirable  schools  of  the  Alliance  Israelite 
the  French  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  the  Jews.  If  they 

1  Life  of  Mahomet  :  from  original  sources,  p.  79,  ed.  1878. 

2  Sir  William  Muir  always  uses  the  transliteration  Mahomet  and 
Coran. 

275 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

show  any  misgiving  as  to  our  study  of  the  Koran,  it  is  only 
lest  we  may  defile  it  by  "  unwashen  hands."  Sir  William 
Muir  has  written  a  valuable  treatise  *  to  show  "that  un- 
equivocal testimony  is  borne  by  the  Goran  to  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  Scriptures  as  current  in  the  time  of  Mahomet  ; 
that  the  evidence  extends  equally  to  their  genuineness  and 
authority ;  and  that  there  is  not  a  hint  anywhere  through- 
out the  Goran  of  their  cancelment  or  interpolation  .  .  . 
No  expression  regarding  either  the  Jewish  or  Christian 
Scriptures  ever  escaped  the  lips  of  Mahomet  other  than 
of  implicit  reverence,  although  he  taught  that  the  Goran 
contained  everything  necessary " x  (op.  cit.  p.  157). 
"  Verily  in  this  book  are  contained  sufficient  means 
of  salvation  unto  people  who  serve  God"  (Sura  xxi.). 
Our  learned  author  goes  further  :  he  shows  us  that  the 
same  bigotry  and  lack  of  charity  which  is  the  present  cause 
of  our  unhappy  divisions,  the  multiplication  of  sects,  and 
propagation  of  schisms,  was  practically  the  cause  of  the 
de-Christianizing  of  the  faith  of  Mohammed — the  ultimate 
alienation  of  two  hundred  and  odd  millions  of  our  fellow- 
creatures,  a  number  said  to  be  on  the  increase. 

"  It  was  the  opposition  of  the  Jews  and  estrangement  of 
the  Christians,  as  well  as  the  martial  supremacy  of  Islam, 
that  imperceptibly,  but  inevitably,  led  to  the  universal  and 
exclusive  authority  of  Mahomet  and  the  Goran.  The 
change  by  which  the  prophet  dispensed  with  previous  reve- 
lation was  made  in  silence  "  (op.  cit-  p.  157). 

Before  the  alienation  caused  by  "  Jewish  opposition  and 
Christian  estrangement,"  his  policy  had  been  upon  lines 
which  might  have  profoundly  modified  the  whole  of  human 
history — which  might  have  hastened  "  the  one  fold  under 
one  Shepherd  "  for  which  the  world  still  waits,  but  of  which 
at  present,  it  would  seem,  it  is  not  worthy. 

"  The  Jew  was  still  to  follow  the  Law  ;  and  in  addition 

1  The  Testimony  borne  by  the  Koran  to  the  Jeivish  and  Christian 
Scriptures. 

276 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

he  was  to  believe  also  in  the  New  Testament  and  in  the 
mission  of  Jesus.  The  Christian  was  to  hold  fast  by  his 
Gospel.  .  .  .  The  necessity  of  conforming  to  their  respec- 
tive Revelations  is  urged  upon  Jews  and  Christians  in  the 
strongest  terms.  The  Jews  of  Medina  are  repeatedly  sum- 
moned to  judge  by  the  Book,  that  is,  by  the  Old  Testament ; 
and  are  warned  against  the  danger  of  accepting  a  part  only 
of  God's  Word,  and  rejecting  a  part ;  there  are  many  pas- 
sages such  as  the  following  : — 

"  Oh  ye  people  of  the  Book  !  (the  Jews)  ye  do  not  stand  upon 
any  sure  ground^  until  ye  set  up  both  the  Law  and  the  Gospel,  as 
well  as  that  which  hath  been  sent  down  unto  you  from  your  Lord 
.  .  .  And  we  caused  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary,  to  follow  in  their 
footsteps,  attesting  the  Scripture,  viz.  the  Law  which  preceded 
Him.  And  we  gave  Him  the  Gospel,  wherein  are  guidance  and 
light,  attesting  the  Law  which  precedeth  it,  a  direction  and  an 
admonition  to  the  pious  :  and  that  the  people  of  the  Gospel 
(Christians)  may  judge  according  to  that  which  God  hath  re- 
vealed therein ;  and  whosoever  doth  not  judge  according  to  that 
which  God  hath  revealed,  they  are  the  wicked  ones." 

"  Thus,"  observes  Sir  William  Muir,"  the  former  revela- 
tions were  to  be  believed  in  coUectively  as  the  Word  of  God 
by  all  the  faithful  of  whatever  sect.1  The  Old  and  New 
Testaments  were  further  to  be  followed  implicitly,  the  former 
by  the  Jews,  the  latter  by  the  Christians,  and  both  were  to 
be  observed  by  Mahomet  himself  when  determining  their 
respective  disputes"  (op.  cit.  p.  156). 

The  world  was  lying  in  wickedness  in  the  sixth  century  as 
in  others,  and  one  cannot  but  regret  the  "  Jewish  opposition 
and  Christian  estrangement "  which  diverted  into  alien 
channels  the  sweet  reasonableness  of  teaching  such  as  this. 
Again,  to  quote  Sir  Wiliam  Muir,  "  from  time  beyond 

1  A  distinguished  Jerusalem  Moslem  observed  to  us  the  other 
day  that  although  he  desired  the  success  of  the  Japanese  arms 
he  must  not  pray  for  an  idolatrous  people  against  those  who 
worshipped  the  One  God.  Ts  it  with  as  wide  a  charity  that  we 
pray  for  "  Jews,  Turks,  Heretics,  and  Infidels  ?  " 

277 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

memory,  Mecca  and  the  whole  peninsula  had  been  steeped 
in  spiritual  torpor.  The  slight  and  transient  influences  of 
Judaism,  Christianity,  or  philosophical  inquiry  upon  the 
Arab  mind  had  been  but  as  the  ruffling  here  and  there  of  the 
surface  of  a  quiet  lake  ;  all  remained  still  and  motionless 
below.  The  people  were  sunk  in  superstition,  cruelty  and 
vice.  Their  religion  was  a  gross  idolatry,  and  their  faith 
rather  the  dark  superstitious  dread  of  unseen  beings,  whose 
goodwill  they  sought  to  propitiate  and  whose  displeasure  to 
avert,  than  the  belief  in  an  over-ruling  Providence.  The 
life  to  come  and  retribution  of  good  and  evil  were,  as  motives 
of  action,  practically  unknown  "  (op.  cit.  p.  169). 

What  was  the  teaching  of  the  prophet  we  have  already 
seen  ;  we  refer  again  to  Sir  William  Muir  for  a  description 
of  its  effects.  "  What  a  change  has  thirteen  years  pro- 
duced !  A  band  of  several  hundred  persons  had  rejected 
idolatry,  adopted  the  worship  of  one  God,  and  surrendered 
themselves  implicitly  to  the  guidance  of  what  they  believed 
a  revelation  from  Him  ;  praying  to  the  Almighty  with  fre- 
quency and  fervour,  looking  for  pardon  through  His  mercy, 
and  striving  to  follow  after  good  works,  almsgiving,  chastity 
and  justice.  They  now  lived  under  a  constant  sense  of  the 
omnipotent  power  of  God,  and  of  His  providential  care  over 
the  minutest  of  their  concerns.  In  all  the  gifts  of  nature, 
in  every  relation  of  life,  at  each  turn  of  their  affairs,  indivi- 
vidual  or  public,  they  saw  His  hand  "  (op.  cit.  p.  169). 

For  this  faith  they  suffered  exile  and  martyrdom,  aliena- 
tion of  friends,  the  spoiling  of  their  goods.  "  Oh,  son  of  Awf," 
said  the  prophet  to  a  rich  man,  "  verily  thou  art  amongst  the 
rich,  and  thou  shalt  not  enter  Paradise  but  with  great  difficulty. 
Lend  therefore  to  thy  Lord,  so  that  He  may  loosen  thy  steps." 
And  he  departed  by  Mohammed's  advice  to  give  away  all  his 
property.1  It  is  one  among  many  instances  of  the  reason- 

1  The  prophet  taught  that  the  poor  would  enter  Paradise  500  years 
before  the  rich,  and  said  that  when  he  himself  went  thither  he  saw 
that  they  formed  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants. 

278 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

ableness  of  the  prophet's  teaching,  that  he  sent  for  him  again, 
and  told  him,  by  Gabriel's  desire,  that  it  would  suffice  if  he 
used  hospitality  and  gave  alms. 

The  more  one  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the  subsequent 
failure  of  the  prophet  to  maintain,  to  the  end,  the  high 
standard  of  personal  conduct  which  had  impressed  those 
about  him  for  twenty-five  years,  the  more  that  one  observes 
the  deterioration  in  practice  of  his  followers,  the  lowered 
ideals,  the  confusion  of  thought,  the  increasing  tendency  to 
ecclecticism  in  doctrine,  the  widening  estrangement  from 
Christianity — the  more  one  realizes  that  in  the  lives  of 
nations,  as  of  man,  "  there  is  a  turn  "  in  their  affairs  which, 
once  missed,  can  never  be  recovered  ;  so  much  the  more  one 
is  tempted  to  speculate  as  to  what  might  have  been  the 
effect  upon  the  history  of  the  larger  half  of  the  population 
of  the  world  had  Christian  toleration  and  Christian  charity 
been  more  active  and  more  Christ-like  thirteen  centuries 
ago. 

The  overtures  of  rapprochement,  once  repelled,  were  never 
again  attempted  after  the  Mecca  period,  i.e.  after  the  thir- 
teen years  of  the  prophet's  mission  immediately  preceding 
the  Hegira.1  The  Koran  contains  many  passages  referring 
to  the  history  and  teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  as,  for 
example,  the  story  of  the  birth  of  St.  John  Baptist,  and 
that  of  the  birth  of  our  Lord  ;  the  first  being  for  the  most 
part  almost  in  the  words  of  St.  Luke,  the  latter  containing 
such  variations  as  constantly  arise  in  any  story  orally  pre- 
served. There  are  references  to  our  Lord's  miracles,  to  the 
healing  of  the  leprous  and  the  blind,  and  of  the  raising  from 
the  dead.  Jesus  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  "  the  Word  of  God," 
and  as  "  His  Spirit,  which  He  breathed  into  Mary." 

"  Ye  people  of  the  Book  !  (the  Jews]  commit  not  extrava- 
gances in  your  religion  ;  and  speak  not  of  God  aught  but  the 

1  The  English  reader  may  be  glad  to  learn  that  this  word,  meaning 
"  emigration,"  is  pronounced  with  a  soft  g  and  with  the  accent  on 
the  first  syllable. 

279 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

truth.  For  verily  the  Messiah  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary,  is  an 
Apostle  of  God,  which  He  placed  in  Mary,  and  a  Spirit  from 
Him  "  (Sura  4,  Koran). 

Mohammed  makes  no  reference  to  the  Sacrament  of  Bap- 
tism ;  he  misunderstands  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  which 
was  supposed  to  include  the  "  Mother  of  Jesus  "  ;  he  taught 
that  Jesus  was  not  crucified,  but  that  another  had  died  in 
His  likeness,  and  he  but  imperfectly  apprehended  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist. 

"  When  the  Apostles  of  Jesus  said,  0  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary, 
is  Thy  Lord  able  to  cause  a  Table  to  descend  upon  us  from 
Heaven  ?  He  said,  Fear  God,  if  ye  be  faithful.  They  said, 
We  desire  that  we  may  eat  therefrom,  and  that  our  hearts  be  set 
at  ease,  and  that  we  may  knoiv  that  Thou  verily  hast  spoken 
unto  us  the  truth,  and  that  we  may  be  witnesses  thereof.  Then 
spake  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary.  0  God  our  Lord  !  send  down  unto 
us  a  Table  from  Heaven,  that  it  may  be  unto  us  a  Feast-day 
unto  the  first  of  us  and  unto  the  last  of  us,  and  a  sign  from  Thee  ; 
and  nourish  us,  for  Thou  art  the  best  of  nourishers.  And  God 
said,  Verily  I  will  send  it  down  unto  you  ;  and  whosoever  after 
that  shall  disbelieve  amongst  you,  surely  I  will  torment  him 
with  a  torment  wherewith  I  shall  not  torment  any  other  creature  " 
—EL  KORAN,  chap.  v. 

The  example  of  "  Mary,  Mother  of  Jesus,"  is  quoted  for 
the  imitation  of  women  (Sura,  p.  66),  who  are  to  be  "  sub- 
missive unto  God,  believers,  pious,  repentant,  devout,  fasting," 
and  in  many  respects  Islamism  did  much  to  improve  their 
position,  though  naturally  it  retained,  in  many  things,  the 
standard  of  the  period,  Christian  and  pagan  alike.  "  If  we 
put  aside  the  depressing  influence  which  the  constraint  and 
thraldom  of  the  married  state  has  exercised  upon  the  sex  at 
large,  the  unmarried  freewoman  has  nothing  to  complain 
of.  In  one  particular,  viz.,  the  inheritance  by  the  son  of  his 
father's  wives,  she  was  delivered  by  Mohammed  from  a  gross 
and  intolerable  abuse.  No  freewoman  can  be  forced,  under 
the  code  of  Islam,  to  marry  against  her  will ;  and  so  long  as 

280 


THE    MOSLEM   FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

single  she  is  mistress  of  her  actions  "  (Muir,  op.  cit.  p.  347). 

There  is  a  superstition  among  Christians  that  Moslem 
women  have  no  part  in  religious  privileges  and  obligations, 
and  no  hope  of  a  future  life.  Not  only  is  such  an  idea  at 
variance  with  the  whole  tenor  of  their  teaching,  but  it  is 
definitely  contradicted  by  express  passages  in  the  Koran.1 
Several  Moslem  ladies  have  assured  us  that  they  always  pray 
at  the  canonical  hours,  that  is,  five  times  a  day,  and  seemed 
surprised,  not  to  say  hurt,  that  we  should  think  it  possible 
they  should  do  otherwise.  In  one  household  where  we  were 
visiting  we  expressed  a  desire  to  see  a  real  Mohammedan 
rosary,2  such  as  is  used  for  prayer,  as  distinct  from  the  muti- 
lated toy  consisting  of  thirty-three  beads,  only  one-third  of 
the  authorized  number,  which  all  Mohammedan,  and  most 
Christian,  Arabs  are  constantly  handling  at  leisure  moments 
— "  perles  pour  s'amuser,"  said  one,  when  we  asked  its  use. 
"  My  mother  has  one,"  said  our  host,  just  as  naturally  as 
most  young  Englishmen  would  turn  to  their  mothers  for,  let 
us  say,  a  copy  of  S.  Thomas  a  Kempis,  or  The  Christian  Year. 

"  Women  without  souls,"  says  Lady  Burton,  "  may  be 
Christian,  not  Moslem.  Thomas  Aquinas  may  have  adopted 
Aristotle's  '  mulier  est  erratum  naturae  et  suas  occasionatas  et 
per  accidens  generatur,  atque  ideo  est  monstrum.'  We  do  not 
go  down  amongst  the  men,  but  have  a  tribune  with  a  grating, 
the  same  as  we  have  in  Catholic  convents.  It  is  only  a 

1  See  Koran,  chaps.  3,  4,  13,  16,  40,  48,  57,  etc. 

2  The  Moslem  rosary  is  intended  to  contribute  not  to  prayer  but 
to  meditation.     The  ninety -nine  beads  in  their  three  sections  are  so 
many  reminders  of  the  attributes  of  God  ;  the  hundredth,  which  is  of 
a  long  shape,  roughly  that  of  a  minaret,  is  for  "  reminder,"  and 
serves,  in  its  way,  the  purpose  of  the  Muezzin.     It  is  a  call  to  prayer. 
The  attributes  are  all  expressed  in  one  word,  such  as  Compassionate, 
Saviour,  Defender,  Creator.       Sometimes,  however,  such  words  are 
untranslatable  into  our  less  comprehensive  language,  and  one  falls 
back  upon  whole  phrases  "  O  Thou  who  wilt  assemble  us  in  the  day 
of    Judgement,"     "  O    Author    of   the    Resurrection,"    "  O    Thou 
to  Whom  nothing  is  impossible,"   "  O  Thou  who  dost  accept  our 
repentance  " — and  the  like. 

281 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

belief  among  the  vulgar  and  ignorant  that  the  Moslem  allows 
women  no  souls.  The  women  go  to  Es  Salat  (that  is,  the  five 
periods  of  prayer)  and  perform  the  same  Rekat  (i.e.  prostra- 
tions) and  make  the  same  genuflexions  as  the  men,  only  un- 
seen." 

Women  also  keep  the  thirty  days'  fast  of  Ramadan,1  when 
•  neither  food  nor  drink  is  taken  from  dawn  to  sunset.  We 
happened  once  to  meet  a  large  number  of  Moslem  ladies 
at  an  evening  entertainment  during  Ramadan,  and 
could  not  but  notice  how  much  they  ate  and  drank  (it 
was  only  cake  and  coffee  and  sweet  syrups  !),  and  how  many 
cigarettes  they  smoked  ;  but  how  should  we  ourselves  behave 
at  an  "  At  Home  "  if  we  had  eaten  nothing  since  yesterday's 
dinner  ;  if,  moreover,  we  were  released  from  the  criticism 
of  the  other  sex,  who  might  have  reported  at  their  clubs  how 
many  times  "  Miss  So-and-So  "  went  down  to  the  supper 
room  ;  and  if,  moreover,  we  had  carried  on  our  usual  occupa- 
tions in  the  meanwhile  ? — for  it  is  commonly  understood  that 
absolutely  no  grace  is  allowed  in  consideration  of  the  fast. 
Two  of  the  ladies  present  were  even  nursing  mothers,2  and 
the  nurses  in  attendance  from  time  to  time  brought  up  neat 
little  tight  white  parcels  (nothing  so  lax  as  "  bundles  "  or 
"  packets,"  but  tidy  little  parcels)  for  maternal  services. 
How  many  English  women  would  be  capable  of  keeping  Lent 
by  an  absolute  fast  from  dawn  to  sunset  and  attendance 
at  five  offices  a  day  ?  How  many  laymen  ?  How  many 
priests  ?  Business  goes  on  just  as  usual :  the  magistrate  is 
on  his  bench,  the  tradesman  in  his  shop,  the  children  at 
school,  the  soldier  or  policeman  at  his  post.  Moreover,  one 
must  remember  that  these  are  Arabs,  to  whom  frequent 
coffee  and  cigarettes,  and  among  the  older  men  the  long 
continuous  sedative  of  the  narghileh,  are  almost  more  neces- 
sary than  fresh  air. 

1  The  month  when  the  Koran  was  given  to  mankind. 

2  It  should,  however,  be  noted  that  "  dispensation  "  is  given  to 
travellers,  sick  persons  (which  includes  all  whose  health  might  suffer, 
such  as  nursing  or  expectant  mothers),  old  people,  and  young  children. 

282 


THE   MOSLEM   FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

We  have  seen  the  Arab  soldiers,  the  Turkish  officers, 
almost  fainting  at  their  posts  in  the  vitiated  atmosphere  of 
the  Christian  churches,  when  they  were  keeping  the  peace 
among  those  *  to  whom,  at  least  among  the  laity,  the  virtue 
of  fasting  in  any  such  sense  as  theirs  is  practically  unknown, 
and  yet  always  courteous,  always  long-suffering,  though  we 
might  almost  hold  them  justified  for  any  irritability  and 
impatience  of  the  kind  for  which  "  nervous  exhaustion  "  is 
considered  an  excuse.  Happily,  the  Christian  festival  can- 
not often  synchronize  with  the  Moslem  fast,  as  the  use  by  the 
Mohammedans  of  the  lunar  month,  changes  the  period  of  its 
occurrence  by  about  a  month  every  year.  It  is  trying  when 
the  fast  occurs  during  the  exhausting  heat  of  summer,  or, 
as  happens  once  in  thirteen  years,  when  the  fast  occurs  twice 
in  a  single  year. 

The  Mohammedan  is  something  of  a  Puritan,  and  his 
iconoclasm  exceeds  even  theirs.  Tradition  says  that 
when  the  prophet  purified  the  Temple  of  the  Kaaba 
of  the  360  idols  which  it  contained,  he  sent  a  crier  through 
the  streets  of  Mecca  to  proclaim  :  "  Whoever  believeth  in  God, 
and  in  the  day  of  Judgement,  let  him  not  leave  in  his  house  any 
image  whatever,  that  he  doth  not  break  in  pieces."  Probably 
so  extreme  a  measure  was  necessary  to  the  times,  just  as  the 
utter  destruction  of  heathen  associations  had  been  necessary 
in  the  times  of  Moses  and  Joshua,  and  may  have  gone  far  to 
destroy  polytheism  ;  but  it  has  had  lamentable  consequences 
in  the  persistent  mutilation  by  the  Arab  peasants,  even  of  to- 
day, of  all  images  of  man  or  beast  found  in  tomb  or  temple, 


1  The  author  of  Six  Months  in  Jerusalem  (Rev.  Charles  Biggs,  M.  A.) 
observes  :  "  Ancestral  traditions  must  be  taken  into  account  if  the 
modern  missionaries  to  Islam  are  to  succeed.  Some  part,  at  least, 
of  the  failure  of  Protestant  efforts  has  been  due  to  carelessness  and 
want  of  courtesy  .  .  .  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  men,  who  in  Ramadan 
will  live  on  one  meal  in  each  twenty-four  hours,  should  question  the 
spirituality  of  a  religion  whose  missionaries  are  never  seen  to  mark 
any  day  or  season  with  the  denial  of  physical  appetite." 

283 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

sculpture  or  mosaic,  and  thus  in  many  a  loss,  serious  to  art 
and  archaeology. 

One  is,  in  these  days,  frequently  told  that  the  Moslem  is  so 
far  deteriorating  that  he  does  not  obey  the  precepts  of  his 
own  religion,  but  is  occasionally  guilty  of  drinking  wine.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  commentators  consider  it  doubtful  whether 
the  Koran  contains  any  such  absolute  prohibition,  though 
there  are  various  precepts,  such  as  the  following : — 

"  They  will  ask  thee  concerning  wine,  and  casting  of  lots. 
Say,  in  both  there  is  great  evil,  and  (also)  advantages  to  man- 
kind ;  but  the  evil  of  them  is  greater  than  the  advantages  of 
them"  ;  and  again — 

"  Verily,  wine  and  the  casting  of  lots,  and  images  and 
divining  arrows,  are  an  abomination  from  amongst  the  works 
of  Satan  :  shun  them  therefore,  that  ye  may  prosper" 

"  Verily,  Satan  seeketh  that  he  may  cast  among  you  enmity 
and  hatred  through  wine  and  games  of  chance,  and  hinder  you 
from  the  remembrance  of  God,  and  from  prayer.  Will  ye  not 
then  refrain  ? — EL  KORAN,  chap.  ii. 

The  larger  proportion  no  doubt  refrain  from  wine,  and 
although  chess,  draughts,  cards,  backgammon  and  tric-trac 
are  played  at  every  street  corner  in  Jerusalem,  doubtless 
many  of  the  players  are  Christians,  for  in  Ramallah,  an 
entirely  Christian  village,  possessed  by  some  half-dozen 
sects,  we  have  counted  a  dozen  groups  of  men  playing  cards 
and  dice  by  the  roadside  in  the  course  of  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  walk.  Usury  is  absolutely  forbidden,  and  strict 
Mohammedans  will  not  even  bank  their  money,  but  prefer 
to  invest  it  in  building.  Their  houses  are  picturesque,  and 
exceedingly  well  built,  and  the  English  missionaries,  the 
only  settlers  in  Jerusalem  who,  unlike  all  other  religious 
bodies,  Greek,  Latin,  Anglican,  or  Protestant,  do  not  live 
in  community,  but  on  the  far  more  costly  plan  of  separate 
houses,  are  obliged  to  rent  them  almost  entirely  from 
Moslems,  other  bodies  being  established  in  suitable  premises 
which  are  their  own  property. 

284 


Tin;  CAFK  OK   :IIE  To\vx. 


THE   MOSLEM   FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  prophet  not  only  recommended,  but  himself  practised, 
poverty ;  and  Ayesha,  his  young  wife,  who  long  survived  him, 
relates  that  for  months  together  he  did  not  get  a  full  meal, 
but  would  live  on  the  "  two  black  things,"  dates  and  water. 
He  would  also  go  without  light  or  fire.  But  such  sacrifice, 
to  be  acceptable,  must  be  deliberate,  and  not  spendthrift. 
"  Give  unto  him  who  is  of  kin  to  you  his  due,  and  also  unto  the 
poor,  and  the  traveller.  And  waste  not  thy  substance  profusely, 
for  the  profuse  are  brethren  of  the  devils,  and  the  devil  was  un- 
grateful unto  his  Lord" — EL  KORAN,  chap.  xvii. 

He  considered  the  silk  clothing,  commonly  worn,  as  effemi- 
nate, and  desired  that  women  should  be  modestly  dressed. 
"  Speak  unto  thy  wives  and  daughters  and  the  wives  of  the 
believers,  that  they  throw  around  them  a  part  of  their  mantles 
.  .  .  Speak  unto  the  believing  women  that  they  restrain  their 
eyes  .  .  .  and  display  not  their  ornaments" — EL  KORAN, 
chap.  xxiv.  In  spite  of  such  asceticism,  the  prophet  was 
fastidious  ;  he  delighted  in  sweet  scents,  and  hated  onions 
or  garlic,  and  he  washed  his  hands  in  a  decoction  of  the  wild 
palm  tree  ;  he  was  also  very  particular  in  the  care  of  his 
hair,  eyes  and  teeth. 

The  theory  of  sacrifice  seems  to  have  been  associated  less 
with  the  idea  of  atonement  than  of  charity.  To  this  day, 
when  an  animal  is  vowed  to  God,1  it  is  that  it  may  be  given 
as  food  to  the  poor. 

"  Unto  every  people  we  have  appointed  rites  that  they  may 
commemorate  the  Name  of  God  over  the  brute  beasts  with  which 
He  hath  provided  them  .  .  .  and  the  victims  have  we  made  unto 
you  as  ordinances  of  God.  From  them  ye  receive  benefit. 
Commemorate  therefore  the  name  of  God  over  them  a-s  they  stand 
disposed  in  a  line,  and  when  they  fall  slain  upon  their  sides 
eat  thereof,  and  give  unto  the  poor,  both  to  him  that  is  silent 
and  him  that  beggeth.  Thus  have  we  given  thee  dominion  over 

1  As  for  recovery  from  illness,  for  a  safe  return  from  a  journey,  for 
the  birth  of  a  son, — all  such  cases  have  come  under  our  personal 
notice  in  Jerusalem. 

285 


them  that  ye  may  be  thankful.  Their  flesh  is  not  accepted  of 
God,  nor  yet  their  blood  ;  but  your  piety  is  accepted  of  Him." — 
EL  KORAN,  chap.  xxii. 

The  sight  of  hundreds,  perhaps  thousands,  of  sheep  and 
lambs  crowding  into  the  gates  of  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the 
Feast  of  Beiram  is  horribly  pathetic,  for  all  are  destined  to 
be  sacrificed  in  memory  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  son  of  Abraham. 
Probably  however  the  average  of  such  mortality  is  a  low 
one,  as  in  an  ordinary  way  the  Arab  is  but  little  of  a  meat 
eater.  It  is  well  known  that  his  beautiful  white  teeth  soon 
deteriorate  in  domestic  service  from  the  use  of  European 
food,  chiefly  from  exchange  of  his  own  nutritious  whole- 
meal bread  for  the  adulterated  innutritious  substitutes  of 
civilization. 

The  charge  of  cruelty  to  animals  is  constantly  brought 
against  the  Moslem.  Indifference  to  animal  suffering  is  a 
feature  not  of  Islam,1  but  of  Orientalism,  and  nowhere 
have  we  remarked  it  as  so  prominent  as  in  the  largely 
European  and  Christian  town  of  Port  Said.  You  may  see 
quite  as  much  cruelty  in  any  London  thoroughfare,  as  many 
homeless  cats,  overdriven  horses,  and,  until  recent  legisla- 
tion, starving  dogs. 

It  is  also  a  Christian  superstition  that  the  Mohammedan 
regards  the  dog  as  unclean — which  here  he  would  be  almost 
justified  in  doing,  as  they  are  the  much  needed  scavengers 
of  Oriental  cities — but  we  are  assured  by  various  Moslems, 
in  justification  of  their  owning  them  as  pets  and  companions, 
that  it  is  only  with  the  saliva  of  the  dog  that  they  are  for- 
bidden to  come  into  contact.  The  Koran  especially  directs 
that  dogs  should  be  trained  for  sport,  and  the  Arab  grey- 
hound is  one  of  the  fleetest  and  most  beautiful  of  his  race. 
(EL  KORAN,  chap,  v.) 

1  Ceremonial  purity  (i.e.  the  washing  of  the  face,  arms,  head,  feet 
and  ankles)  is  one  of  the  "  indispensable  conditions  "  of  prayer,  five 
times  a  day,  and  may  not^be  omitted  if  water  is  to  be  had,  unless 
"  a  man  fears  that  he  or  his  beast  may  remain  waterless." 

286 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  Moslems  are  more  daring  than  most  Christians  in  their 
views  as  to  the  responsibility  of  the  lower  animals.  "  The 
end  of  the  Resurrection,  the  Mohammedans  declare  to  be, 
that  they  who  are  so  raised  may  give  an  account  of  their 
actions,  and  receive  the  reward  thereof.  And  they  believe 
that  not  only  mankind,  but  irrational  animals  also,  shall  be 
judged  on  this  great  day  ;  when  the  unarmed  cattle  shall 
take  vengeance  on  the  horned  till  entire  satisfaction  shall  be 
given  to  the  injured."  1  (Will  the  fox  and  the  hare,  the 
victim  of  the  vivisectionist,  the  tortured  and  the  starved, 
take  vengeance  to  the  point  of  "  entire  satisfaction  "  upon 
man  ?) 

Two  animals  at  least  are  to  be  admitted  into  Paradise  : 
Ezra's  ass  who,  having  died  beside  his  master,  was  with  him 
restored  to  life  after  100  years  (Sale's  Koran :  Preliminary 
Discourse,  section  4),  and  the  dog  of  the  Seven  Sleepers 2  who 
conveyed  to  them  God's  will  in  the  words,  "  I  love  those 
who  are  dear  unto  God  ;  go  to  sleep  therefore  and  I  will  guard 
you."  The  prophet  gives  us  an  analogy  to  our  Lord's  lesson 
on  God's  care  for  the  sparrows  :  "  How  many  beasts  are 
there  which  provide  not  their  food  !  It  is  God  Who  provideth 
food  for  them  and  you,  and  He  both  heareth  and  knoweth." — 
EL  KORAN,  chap.  xxix.  Mohammed  draws  lessons  also  from 
the  ant,  the  spider,  the  bee,  the  war-horse,  the  elephant,  and 
other  animals,  and  often  addresses  God  as  "  the  Lord  of  all 
creatures." 

We  all  read  in  the  schoolroom  the  story  of  the  prophet's 
cutting  off  a  part  of  his  robe  rather  than  disturb  the  cat  who 
had  gone  to  sleep  upon  it,  and  there  are  many  stories  of  the 
prophet's  affection  for  his  own  animals ;  of  his  horses,  Sabek 
(running  water),  named  from  the  easiness  of  his  paces  ; 

1  C.  P.  Bayle,  Diet.  Hist.,  Art.  "  Rorarious." 

2  El  Koran,  Chap.  18.    See  Sale's  note  in  loco.  "  The  Mohammedans 
have  a  great  respect  for  this  dog,  and  allow  him  a  place  in  Paradise 
with  some  other  favourite  brutes."  They  call  him  Katmir,  and  write 
his  name  on  letters  sent  to  a  distance  as  a  charm  against  miscarriage. 

287 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

Sabah,  with  whom  he  raced  and  won  ;  and  Murtaji  (the 
neigher).  Also  he  had  a  white  mule  which  he  gave  to  his 
wife  Ayesha  ;  another,  Fizza,  which  he  gave  to  a  friend. 
He  disapproved  of  mules,  and  said,  "  No  one  would  propose 
so  unnatural  a  cross  save  he  who  lacked  knowledge." 
He  had  two  favourite  asses  and  a  riding  camel  named  Adhba 
of  great  speed.  Yet  one  day  an  Arab  passed  it  when 
at  its  fleetest  pace,  and  his  Moslems  were  chagrined  ;  but 
Mohammed  reproved  them,  saying,  "  It  is  the  property  of  the 
Lord,  that  whensoever  men  exalt  anything,  or  seek  to  exalt 
it,  that  the  Lord  putteth  down  the  same."  He  had  also  a 
favourite  milch  camel,  and  Ayesha  had  one  called  Samra. 
He  had  seven  goats,  and  when  his  favourite  among  them 
died  he  had  the  skin  preserved  as  a  remembrance.  "  There 
is  no  house,"  he  would  say,  "  possessing  a  goat,  but  a  bless- 
ing abideth  thereon,  and  there  is  no  house  possessing  three 
goats  but  the  angels  pass  the  night  there  praying  for  its 
inmates  until  the  morning." 

It  is  said  that  among  the  Moslems  there  are  thirty-two 
Orders  of  Holy  Men  (Dervishes),  although  we  can  hear 
of  four  only  as  existent  in  Jerusalem  at  the  present  time. 
The  most  widespread  are  the  Nashberidies,  who,  like  the 
"  third  order  "  in  certain  Christian  communities,  remain  in 
the  world  while  observing  the  rules  to  which  they  have  vowed 
submission.  Others,  more  rigid,  live  in  greater  seclusion, 
and  are  apparently  required  to  have  a  vocation,  as  they 
undergo  a  novitiate  of  1,001  days.  The  only  properly 
mendicant  order  is  that  of  the  Bektashies. 

The  rule  against  taking  life,  even  that  of  a  caterpillar,  is 
common  to  all  Dervishes,  and  indeed  an  aversion  to  doing  so 
is  general  among  Orientals. 

A  friend  who  had  humanely  drowned  half  a  score  of  super- 
fluous puppies,  had  occasion,  later  in  the  day,  to  reprove  her 
servant  for  neglecting  to  provide  the  mother,  who  was  shut 
up  in  charge  of  her  remaining  infant,  with  requisite  food. 
"  You  call  me  cruel  that  I  make  one  dog  hungry,"  he  expos- 

288 


THE    MOSLEM    FAITH    IN   JERUSALEM 

tulated, — "  you  who  killed  ten  dogs  this  morning  !  "  There 
is  a  custom  called  diyyet,  by  which,  if  a  man  kills  a  pariah 
dog,  the  animal  is  hung  up  by  its  tail,  and  he  is  obliged  to  buy 
as  much  wheat  as  will  cover  the  body  from  the  muzzle  to  the 
tail,  to  be  made  into  bread  and  given  to  the  surviving  com- 
panions of  his  victim.  It  is,  moreover,  not  unusual  for  a 
Moslem  on  his  death-bed  to  leave  a  sum  of  money  for  bread 
for  the  same  purpose,  or,  when  in  trouble,  to  make  a  vow  to 
devote  a  given  sum  to  feeding  the  kilab  (or  wild  dogs),  and 
it  is  pleasant  here,  where  we  hear  so  much  of  Mohammedan 
cruelty  and  of  hatred  to  the  "  unclean  beast,"  to  meet  the 
Moslem,  followed  by  a  servant  carrying  the  votive  offering, 
which  he  is  himself  distributing  among  his  suffering  fellow- 
creatures. 

In  passing  a  sentry-box,  or  guard-house,  or  watchman's 
lodge,  one  constantly  notices  a  prosperous  cat  established 
comfortably  upon  the  bed  of  the  occupant,  as  a  rule  a  Moslem 
soldier  in  the  Turkish  army  ;  and  it  is  said  that  a  year  or  two 
ago  a  serious  disturbance  was  raised  in  a  certain  district  by 
the  fact  that  a  tax-gatherer  or  other  official,  billeted  upon 
the  village,  had  insisted  upon  the  killing  of  a  pet  lamb  for 
the  gratification  of  his  own  appetite.  The  public  feeling 
upon  the  point  was  so  greatly  excited  that  not  only  was  the 
soldier  imprisoned,  but  the  custom  of  billeting  him  upon  the 
natives  was  discontinued  by  authority  of  the  Government. 

When  Muir  published  his  Life  of  Mahomet  somewhere 
about  the  year  1856  a  reviewer  made  much  of  the  fact  that 
though  the  author  seemed  little  disposed  to  admit  any 
pretensions  inconsistent  with  a  firm  and  exclusive  faith  in 
the  Christian  revelation,  he  nevertheless  thought  it  no  part 
of  his  duty  to  descend  to  misrepresentation  or  reviling  of 
the  founder  of  another  creed !  The  march  of  civilization 
and  the  work  of  which  Sir  William  Muir  and  Professor 
Max  Miiller  were  the  pioneers  have  relegated  observations 
such  as  this  to  the  dark  ages  of  theological  criticism. 

Freeman,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Saracens,  writing 

289  u 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

purely  as  an  historian,  and  not  as  theologian  or  orientalist, 
fully  admits  the  greatness  and  the  lofty  conduct  of  the 
prophet  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  his  career,  and  the 
impeccability  of  his  monogamous  domestic  relations  during 
twenty-five  years  of  married  life.  The  degeneracy  of  the 
last  twelve  years,  less  than  a  fifth  of  the  whole,  he  speaks  of, 
justly  enough,  as  a  time  when  the  prophet,  like  Alexander  or 
Solomon,  had  become  corrupted  by  success.  It  is,  however, 
characteristic  of  the  sort  of  criticism  of  which  the  odium 
iheologicum  is  a  prominent  feature,  that  Mohammed's  life  is 
commonly  represented  as  one  of  unqualified  depravity, 
whereas  it  would  compare  favourably  with  that  of  most  of 
those  Old  Testament  heroes  of  whom  he  claimed  to  be  the 
successor. 


290 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE   MOSLEM  IN  THE  HOLY  PLACES 

MOSQUES —  SACRED  SITES  OF  COMMON  INTEREST — 
MOSQUE  AT  HEBRON — POSTED  PRAYERS — MUKRAMS 
— MUKADDASI — His  DESCRIPTION  OP  PALESTINE — 
MOSLEM  DEVOTION  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

WHEN  we  realize  that  for  over  1,300  years  the  Holy 
City  has  been,  with  the  short  interruption  of  the 
Frank  kingdom,  in  the  power  of  the  Mohammedans,  to 
whom  our  sacred  places  are  also,  in  their  degree,  objects  of 
reverence,  we  have  indeed  strong  reason  for  gratitude  for 
the  forbearance  which  has  taken  from  us  so  little,  compara- 
tively, that  is  precious.  While  regretting  perhaps  their 
possession  of  the  Temple  area,  which  the  early  Christians, 
however,  delighted  to  desecrate,  we  have  occasion  to  rejoice 
that  for  the  last  few  years  we  have  had  liberty  to  visit  its  pre- 
cincts, a  liberty  which  one  feels  to  be  the  more  kindly  when 
one  hears  the  graceless  scorn  which  the  tourist  pours  upon 
local  traditions  of  which  he  commonly  fails  to  grasp  the 
esoteric  if  not  the  more  obvious  meaning.  It  is  said  that 
the  earliest  recorded  visit  of  a  Christian  was  that  of  Bonomi 
the  artist,  who,  with  two  friends,  contrived  not  only  to 
enter  disguised  as  a  Mohammedan,  but  even  to  make 
sketches  of  the  Haram  Area. 

The  remains  of  a  church  originally  built  by  Constantine, 
but  many  times  destroyed  and  restored,  upon  the  alleged 
site  of  our  Lord's  Ascension,  are  now  utilized  as  a  praying- 

291 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

place  for  Mohammedans,  who  re-erected  the  Crusading 
Chapel  upon  the  former  ground -plan ;  but,  on  the  Festival 
of  the  Ascension  both  our  own  and  that  of  the  Greeks, 
which  varies,  and  may  occur  a  fortnight  later  than  ours, 
it  is  courteously  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Christians, 
and  in  the  dome  itself,  as  well  as  in  the  courtyard,  altars 
are  placed,  and  Masses  said,  from  earliest  dawn  till  late 
in  the  morning  of  the  feast  day. 

Other  spots  about  Jerusalem,  none  the  less  sacred  from 
association  that  they  are  not  necessarily  admitted  by  the 
historian  and  the  archaeologist,  are  now  in  Moslem  hands  ; 
the  Pool  of  Siloam,  the  Tomb  of  Rachel,  Mizpah  where 
Samuel  judged  Israel,  with  many  others  among  which 
that  most  endeared  to  Christendom  by  centuries  of 
reverence  is  the  Coenaculum,  the  scene  of  the  Last  Supper, 
of  our  Lord's  appearance  after  the  Resurrection,  of  the 
appearance  of  St.  Thomas,  of  the  election  of  St.  Matthias,  of 
the  Miracle  of  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  and  which  was  known 
as  a  sanctuary  by  St.  Cyril  as  early  as  350.1 

Moreover,  the  early  pilgrims  venerated  this  same  scene 
as  the  site  of  the  residence  and  death  of  the  Virgin,  and 
the  spot  was,  very  naturally,  chosen  by  the  Franciscans 
soon  after  their  arrival  in  the  thirteenth  century  as  a  centre 
for  their  church  and  conventual  buildings.  The  jealousy 
of  the  Jews  2  revealed  to  the  Moslems  that  these  buildings 
included  the  possible  tombs  of  David  and  Solomon,  and  in 
1551  the  Franciscans  were  compelled  to  seek  new  quarters, 
and  their  church,  built  about  1342,  became  a  mosque.  The 
loss  has  been  the  more  felt  by  those  who  suffered  it,  that 

1  The  tradition  is  supported  by  Modestus  611-34  ;  Sophronius 
634-38  ;  Arculfus,   670  ;  Bede,   720  ;  Bernard  the  Monk,   870 ;  and 
others. 

2  One  story  told  is  that  a  rich  Jew  of  Stamboul,  who  wished  to 
pray  at  the  Tomb  of  David,  was  refused  admission  to  the  Franciscan 
Church,  and  that  he  revenged  himself,  on  his  return  to  Constantinople, 
by  abusing  the  Pashas  for  not  themselves  taking  charge  of  places 
sacred  to  their  faith,  and  thus  suggested  the  appropriation. 

292 


THE   MOSLEM   IN   THE    HOLY   PLACES 

whereas  many  traditions  are  held  in  common  by  Moslem 
and  Christian,  that  of  the  Institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
in  "the  Upper  Room  furnished"  is  to  the  present  pos- 
sessors without  interest. 

The  building  is  of  two  storeys,  but  only  into  the  upper  one 
is  the  Christian  admitted  ;  and  here  we  are  shown  a  distant 
view  of  a  sarcophagus  covered  with  a  cloth  of  crimson  and 
gold,  said  to  be  a  replica  of  the  actual  tomb  of  David  still 
existing  in  the  lowest  of  three  chambers  one  above  another 
and  exactly  similar. 

The  spot  upon  which,  according  to  legend,  Judas  betrayed 
our  Lord  is  separated  by  a  wall  from  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  since  1848  in  possession  of  the  Franciscans.  From 
Maundrell,  who  visited  Jerusalem  in  1697,  we  learn  a  tradi- 
tion to  which  I  have  never  seen  any  allusion,  but  which 
has  a  special  interest  in  our  present  connexion. 

"  About  eight  paces  from  the  place  where  the  Apostles 
slept  is  a  small  shred  of  ground,  twelve  yards  long  and  one 
broad,  supposed  to  be  the  very  path  on  which  the  traitor 
Judas  walked  up  to  Christ  saying,  '  Hail  Master,'  and  kissed 
Him.  This  narrow  path  is  separated  by  a  wall  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  garden  as  a  terra  damnata,  a  work  the  more 
remarkable  as  being  done  by  the  Turks,  who,  as  well  as 
Christians,  detest  the  very  ground  on  which  was  acted  such 
an  infamous  treachery."  l  It  may  be  remarked  that  the 
word  "  Turk "  is  loosely  used  for  "  Moslem "  by  early 
writers,  as  it  is  to  this  day  by  the  French. 

One  of  the  very  rare  instances  of  reversion  is  that 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Anne,  built  over  the  reputed 
birthplace  of  the  B.V.M.  (a  tradition  supported  by 
Theodosius  530,  St.  Anthony  570,  St.  Sophronius  636, 

1  A  tradition  preserved  by  the  Abbe  Azais  (1852,)  relates 
that  it  was  then  customary  for  Moslems,  when  seriously  ill,  to 
be  brought  by  their  friends  and  laid  upon  the  rock  bed  of  the  grave 
of  Lazarus,  that  the  same  spot  which  restored  life  to  the  dead  might 
also  restore  health  to  the  sick  and  suffering. 

293 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

St.  John  Damascene  760),  and  close  by  the  alleged 
Pool  of  Bethesda.  A  church  existing  there  in  the  sixth 
century  was  rebuilt  as  a  convent  for  nuns  in  the  twelfth 
century  ;  desecrated  by  Saladin,  it  became  a  Moslem  college. 
It  was  restored  to  France  after  the  Crimean  w  ar  1  and  is 
now  once  more  a  convent  and  also  a  college  for  Greek 
Catholics,  under  the  "  White  Fathers  "  of  St.  Anne. 

Another  interesting  example  of  common  interest  in  a 
holy  site  is  that  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Tomb  of  the  Virgin 
at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Originally  built  at 
least  as  early  as  the  fifth  century — destroyed  by  the  Persians, 
said  to  have  been  immediately  rebuilt  and  to  have  been 
prayed  in  by  Omar,  again  destroyed  and  again  rebuilt 
by  Millicent,  daughter  of  Baldwin — it  is  now  mainly  the 
property  of  the  Greeks,  is  very  occasionally  used  by  the 
Latins,  and  has  altars  belonging  to  the  Armenians  and 
Abyssinians,  and  a  prayer  niche  of  the  Moslems.2  The 
Mosque,  from  which  the  Christian  is  most  rigorously  ex- 
cluded, is,  however,  that  at  Hebron,  the  alleged  resting- 
place  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  of  their  wives, 
Rachel  excepted.  From  time  to  time,  by  special  favour, 
a  Christian  is  admitted — the  sons  and  grandsons  of  Queen 
Victoria,  the  late  Marquess  of  Bute,  President  Grant  of 
America,  Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  and  others  ;  but  the  Moslems 

1  This  site,  so  immensely  interesting  in  all  its  sacred  associations 
as  well  as  so  valuable  to  the  antiquarian,  was  offered  as  a  gift  to  Eng- 
land and  declined  by  the  enlightened  Government  of  the  period. 

2  This  community  of  reverence,  however,  can  hardly  be  said  to 
justify    a   statement    made    in    the    P.E.F.,    1881,    p.    Ill,   that 
' '  In  holy   places   many    high    masses     are    celebrated    both    by 
Mohammedans   and    Christians."      The   same    author  informs   us 
(op.  cit.  p.  114),  that  the  village  inn  is,  "  for  the  Moslems,  town  hall, 
casino,  and  church  all  in  one,"  and  also  that  "  you  may  there  join 
in  the  prayers  of  the  priests."     The  author,  who  was  for  twenty- 
six  years  a  missionary  in   Palestine  and   pastor  of  the  Protestant 
Arab  community,  might   have   found   it   useful  to   inform  himself 
that  the  Moslems,  whom  he  desired  to   convert,  were  not  accus- 
tomed to  high  masses,  churches,  priests,  nor  to  joining  in  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Catholic  communities. 

294 


THE    MOSLEM    IN    THE    HOLY    PLACES 

of  Hebron  are  more  fanatical  than  any  to  be  met 
elsewhere.  Not  only  are  they  but  little  accustomed  to 
Europeans,  although  Hebron  is  but  five  hours  from 
Jerusalem,  but  the  place  is  one  of  special  sanctity.  Like 
the  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  who  drop  petitions  into  the  crevices  of 
the  sacred  walls  of  the  Wailing  Place,  some  of  the  more 
uninstructed  there  also  deposit  prayers  in  a  hole  in  the 
natural  rock  adjoining  the  Mosque.  One  which  was — 
perhaps  unfairly — subtracted  by  a  visitor,  I  am  able  to  quote 
as  a  specimen  of  the  petitions  thus  forwarded.  One  can 
feel  nothing  but  reverence  for  its  natural  pathos.  "  May 
it  be  the  will  of  Our  Father  in  Heaven,  by  the  merit  of  our 
fathers  the  saints.  May  he  have  mercy  on  the  woman 
Haya,  the  daughter  of  Aaron  ;  and  on  Abraham  Isaac, 
the  son  of  Aaron ;  and  Etta,  daughter  of  Aaron ;  and  Sippa 
daughter  of  Aaron.  May  he  send  a  perfect  recovery  to 
the  poor  sufferers,  in  particular  to  the  woman  Haya ; 
also  a  good  old  age."  * 

"  Upon  every  high  hill  and  under  every  green  tree,"  all 
around  Jerusalem  and  indeed  all  over  Palestine,  to  the 
number,  it  is  said,  of  over  300,  there  are  mukrdms  ;  small 
cubical  buildings  covered  with  a  dome,  and  very  often  the 
mausoleum  of  some  Weli  or  Sheikh  (saint  or  holy  man) 
often  reverenced  by  Jews  and  Christians  as  well  as  by 
Moslems.  Here  articles  deposited  are  safe  from  theft ; 
votive  gifts  are  made,  and  lamps  lighted,  as  offerings  for  the 
sick.  They  are  sometimes  the  objects  of  pilgrimage,  and 
of  processions  at  the  Festival  of  Beiram,  and  as  they  contain 
a  mikrab  (prayer  niche)  are  often  resorted  to  for  prayer. 

1  We  have  also  read  several  such  messages  found  in  another 
place,  which,  as  accessible  to  tourists,  I  will  not  specify.  In  these 
we  have  observed  that  in  most  cases  the  mother  is  specially  men- 
tioned, a  feature  usual  in  Jewish  prayers,  as  in  charms,  amulets  and 
incantations.  Some  ascribe  the  origin  of  this  custom  to  the  words  of 
David,  "  I  am  thy  servant  and  the  son  of  thine  handmaid."  Others 
give  the  more  common-place  explanation  that  it  may  be  that  the 
father's  identity  is  sometimes  less  certain  than  that  of  the  mother. 

295 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

They  are  frequently  tombs,  but  not  necessarily  so,  as  is 
obvious  from  their  multiplication.  Thus  Joseph  has  two, 
at  Nablus  and  Hebron,  Jonah  has  four,  Daniel  five,  Isaac, 
said  to  be  difficult  to  propitiate  (though,  by  the  way,  it 
was  not  he,  but  Rebekah,  who  was  "  weary  of  her  life  " 
because  of  her  daughters-in-law),  has  one  in  Galilee  as  well 
as  that  at  Hebron.  Some  of  the  dedications  are  to  Old 
Testament  characters  such  as  those  already  named,  some 
to  New  Testament  saints,  such  as  St.  Matthew,  St.  John 
Baptist,  St.  Paul,  St.  Anne  ;  some  to  special  aspects  of 
Moslem  tradition  such  as  Gabriel  and  St.  George.1 

The  earliest  Moslem  historian  of  social  Jerusalem,  Mukad- 
dasi,  was  born,  as  his  name  signifies,2  in  the  Holy  City  in 
946.  After  making  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  in  965,  he  deter- 
mined to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  geography,  and  spent 
twenty  years  in  travelling  through  all  the  countries  of 
Islam,  to  qualify  himself  for  writing  his  book,  which  he 
began  in  985,  and  of  which  perhaps  the  most  interesting 
part  is  his  study  of  Jerusalem.  He  reports  at  great  length 
upon  the  products  of  Syria,  and  his  classification  is  worth 
quoting. 

"  Know  that  within  the  province  of  Palestine  may  be 
found  gathered  together  six  and  thirty  products  that  are 
not  found  thus  united  in  any  other  land. 

1  Conder    gives    a    list    of    some    forty-eight   such   dedications, 
and   adds,   p.  140,   "  As  in  England  the  fairies  were  feared,  so  in 
Palestine  the   peasantry  will  not,  if  they  can  avoid   it,   speak   of 
a  Wely  (saint)   by  his  full   name  ;    they   prefer   a   complimentary 
nickname,  such  as  '  the  good    Sheikh    of    the    raft,   '  the  lady  of 
childbirth,'  '  the   famous   Sheikh,'    '  the   father   of   the    Crescent,' 
'  the  strength  of  the  faith.'     These  divinities  have  a  local  power 
extending  to  a  greater  or  less  radius  ;    within  this  circle  they  are 
feared,  and  it  is  said  that  a  man  would  rather  confess  a  murder 
than  allow  himself  to  be  perjured  in  swearing  on  the  tomb  in  the 
Mukram  of  his  village.     Whether  the  complicated  mass  of  tradition, 
the  growth  of  so  many  centuries  and  the  product  of  three  religions, 
can  be  disentangled  ...  I  leave  others  to  judge." — P.E.F.,  1876. 

2  One  of  the  many  names  of  Jerusalem  is  Beit  al  makdis  or  Mu- 
kaddas  ;  thus  Mukaddasi  means  a  Jerusalemite. 

296 


THE   MOSLEM   IN   THE    HOLY   PLACES 

"  Of  these,  the  first  seven  are  found  in  Palestine  alone  ; 
the  following  seven  are  very  rare  in  other  countries  ;  and 
the  remaining  two  and  twenty,  though  only  found  thus 
gathered  together  in  this  province,  are,  for  the  most  part, 
found  one  and  another  singly,  in  other  lands."  Among  the 
first  seven  he  includes  "  the  pine-nuts1  called  Kuraish-bite," 
among  the  second  the  sugar-cane,  no  longer  found  in  the 
country,  but  cultivated  widely  in  Syria  in  the  middle  ages. 
The  remaining  twenty-two  include  the  excellent  wild 
asparagus  of  the  country,  the  truffle,  "  also  snow  and 
buffalo-milk  !  "  He  also  includes  the  orange,  then  a  novelty 
imported  from  South-western  Asia,  and  a  sweetmeat  called 
kubbat,  still  (deservedly)  popular,  made  of  carob-sugar, 
almonds  and  pistachio  nuts. 

He  also  mentions,  among  objects  especial  to  Jerusalem, 
rosaries,  mirrors,  lamp  jars,  and  needles.  Apparently 
then,  as  now,  for  some  reason  not  obvious  to  the  Occidental 
understanding,  building  operations  were  not  carried  on  in 
winter,  in  spite  of  the  absence  of  frost  and  rarity  of  snow  ; 
for  among  other  uses  of  Christian  phrases  he  quotes  that 
"  When  St.  Barabara's  feast  [December  4]  comes  round, 
then  the  mason  may  take  to  his  flute."  He  also  speaks  of 
Whitsuntide  as  the  time  of  heat,  the  Feast  of  the  Cross 
[i.e.  the  Exaltation  of  the  Cross,  September  14]  as  the  time 
of  grape-gathering,  and  the  Feast  of  St.  George  [April  23]  as 
the  time  of  sowing  seed. 

He  says  that  the  Christians  are  the  scribes  of  the  country, 
for  "  the  Muslims,  unlike  the  men  of  other  nations,  do  not 
hold  letters  a  profitable  study."  However,  he  admits 
later  that  Jerusalem  has  certain  intellectual  privileges 
and  advantages, 

Mukaddasi  is  more  than  eloquent  in  his  description  of  his 
native  city.  After  dilating  on  her  natural  advantages 
(and  he  is  so  far  prejudiced  as  to  say  "  her  markets  are 

1  The  fruit  of  the  Strobili  pini  eaten  with  rice  boiled  in  gravy,  one 
of  the  pleasantest  of  many  good  native  dishes. 

297 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

clean  "),  he  proceeds  :  "In  Jerusalem  are  all  manner  of 
learned  men  and  doctors,  and  for  this  reason  the  heart  of 
every  man  of  intelligence  yearns  towards  her.  All  the  year 
round,  never  are  her  streets  empty  of  strangers.1  As  to 
the  saying  that  Jerusalem  is  the  most  illustrious  of  cities — 
is  she  not  the  one  that  unites  the  advantages  of  this  world 
and  those  of  the  next  ?  .  .  .  Wine  is  not  publicly  consumed 
and  there  is  no  drunkenness.  The  city  is  devoid  of  houses 
of  ill-fame.  .  .  .  Allah  !  may  He  be  exalted  !  has  gathered 
together  here  all  the  fruits  of  the  lowlands  and  of  the  plains, 
and  of  the  hill  country,  even  all  those  of  the  most  opposite 
kinds." 

It  is  only  just  to  quote  also  that  he  admits — and  not  less 
truly — that  "  Jerusalem  has  some  disadvantages.  Thus 
it  is  reported,  as  found  written  in  the  Torah  of  Moses,  that 
Jerusalem  is  as  a  golden  basin  filled  with  scorpions.  Thus 
you  will  not  find  anywhere  baths  more  filthy  than  those  of 
the  Holy  City.2  Learned  men  are  few  and  the  Christians 
numerous,  and  the  same  are  unmannerly  in  the  public 
places.  In  the  hostelries  the  taxes  are  heavy  on  all  that  is 
sold.  ...  In  this  city  the  oppressed  have  no  succour,  the 
meek  are  molested,  and  the  rich  envied.  Everywhere  the 
Christians  and  Jews  have  the  upper  hand."  Most  of  his 
statements  still  hold  good,  but  the  last  is  somewhat  surpris- 
ing in  reference  to  a  period  a  hundred  years  before  the  first 
Crusade.  But  Mukaddasi  is  an  observant  person,  and  his- 
tory tends  to  repeat  itself. 

1  The  Persian  traveller,  Nasiri  Khusran,  writing  in  March,  1047, 
tells  us  :  "  From  all  the  countries  of  the  Greeks  and  from  other  lands, 
the  Christians  and  the  Jews  come  up  to  Jerusalem  in  great  numbers 
in  order  to  make  their  visitation  of  the  Church  (of  the  Resurrection) 
and  the  synagogue  that  is  there." 

2  Thackeray  and  Mark  Twain  in  after  ages  report  somewhat  to 
the  same  effect.     Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  and   Lady   Burton 
contrast  the  baths  of  Palestine  with  those  elsewhere.     Thackeray, 
however,  remarks  pleasantly  that  he  did  "  not  know  before  what 
saponacity  was." 

298 


THE   MOSLEM   IN   THE    HOLY   PLACES 

During  the  period  of  Moslem  rule,  Jerusalem,  though 
the  Sacred  City,  was  never  the  capital  of  Palestine,  a  dignity 
reserved  for  Er  Ramleh  in  the  south,  and  Damascus  in  the 
north.  As  containing  the  sacred  rock  and  other  holy  sites 
it  was  second  only  in  sanctity  to  Mecca  and  Medineh,  was 
called  by  Mohammed  Mesjid  el  Aksa — the  Mosque  farthest 
away  from  Mecca — and  as  such,  a  place  of  pilgrimage. 
We  read  in  the  travels  of  Nasiri  Khusran  in  1047  : — 

"The  men  of  Syria  and  of  the  neighbouring  parts  call  the 
Holy  City  by  the  name  of  Kuds  (the  Holy),  and  the  people 
of  these  provinces,  if  they  are  unable  to  make  the  pilgrimage 
(to  Mecca),  will  go  up  at  the  appointed  season  to  Jerusalem 
and  there  perform  their  rites,  and  upon  the  feast-day  slay 
the  sacrifice  as  is  customary  to  do  (at  Mecca)  on  the  same 
day.  There  are  years  when  as  many  as  twenty  thousand 
people  will  be  present  at  Jerusalem  during  the  first  days  of 
the  month  (of  pilgrimage),  for  they  bring  their  children  also 
with  them  in  order  to  celebrate  their  circumcision."  1 

The  institution  of  a  new  opposition  Mecca  on  the  ruins 
of  the  Hebrew  Temple,  also  a  centre  of  Monotheism,  is  in  fact 
a  matter  of  history  belonging  to  the  period  of  the  rival 
Khalifate  of  Damascus  (661-679),  and  was  an  attempt  to 
discourage  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  initiated  by  Mohammed's 
enemy,  Abu  Sofian  Khalif,  in  Damascus,  for  sufficiently 
obvious  reasons.  Mecca,  however,  remains  the  Holy  City 
of  Islam,  although  the  Kaliph  bears  the  title  of  Hdmi  el 
Haramein,  "  guardian  of  the  two  sanctuaries  "  ;  and  when 
we  lightly  discuss  the  future  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  speculate 
as  to  what  European  crown  it  would  most  suitably  adorn, 
we  forget  that  we  are  not  proposing  merely  to  subtract  an 
unimportant  Turkish  province,  but  to  rob  200,000,000  of 
our  fellow-creatures  of  the  sanctuary  of  their  religion.  It  is 

1  The  Moslems  do  riot  necessarily  circumcise  in  infancy  as  do  the 
Jews,  but  at  almost  any  age,  as  a  rule  between  six  and  ten.  If  a 
Moslem  dies  uncircumcised  the  ceremony  must  be  performed  before 
burial,  that  he  may  not  go  uncircumcised  into  the  presence  of  Allah. 

299 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

probably  even  a  new  thought  to  most  of  us  that  the  Dome  of 
the  Rock,  the  site  of  Solomon's  Temple,  has  been  considerably 
longer  the  uninterrupted  possession  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael 
than  it  ever  was  of  the  spns  of  Isaac,  and  that  the  One  God 
has  been  worshipped  on  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah  the 
Jebusite  some  five  centuries  longer  in  the  Arabic,  than  ever 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue. 


300 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  MOSLEM  WOMAN  IN  JERUSALEM 

AMUSEMENTS — THEATRE —  SHOPPING  — WE  DDING    BATH — 
RECEPTION — EL  GELWEH 

r  I  ^HE  Moslem  woman  has  few  amusements  beyond  that 
A  of  receiving  and  visiting  her  friends.  Social  festivities 
take  place  largely  out  of  doors,  and  there  are  some  half- 
dozen  spots  around  Jerusalem,  more  or  less  shady,  where, 
in  the  afternoon,  you  are  sure  to  find  groups  of  women  drink- 
ing coffee  and  eating  sweets  and  nuts.  You  may  track 
them  by  nut-shells.  The  natives,  when  they  are  not  smok- 
ing, are  eating  ;  on  board  ship,  in  railway  carriages,  in  bed, 
on  visits,  up  to  the  very  doors  of  the  churches,  they  eat. 
They  have  but  one  substantial  meal  a  day — in  the  evening — 
but  unless  they  are  smoking,  they  nibble  all  the  rest  of  the 
time,  except  of  course  the  better  educated  among  the  men. 
The  men,  however,  have  their  cafes,  where  they  smoke 
water-pipes,  drink  coffee  and  play  cards  or  tric-trac  at 
intervals  all  day.  The  effendis,  on  their  way  back  from  the 
serai,  sit  on  little  rush  stools  at  the  doors  of  the  shops  all 
the  way  up  the  Jaffa  Road,  just  as  if  our  young  men  from 
Downing  Street  and  Whitehall  were  to  have  chairs  brought 
out  to  them  under  the  awnings  at  Lewis  &  Allenby's  or 
Marshall  &  Snelgrove's.  If  you  have  a  message  for  one  of 
them,  you  leave  it  at  the  shop  he  frequents — the  substitute 
for  the  club  or  restaurant.  The  men,  moreover,  can,  if  they 
choose,  go  to  the  theatre,  which  flourishes  even  in  the  Holy 

301 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

City,  but  is  mainly  frequented  by  Greeks.  When  we  our- 
selves experimented  in  this  amusement,  there  were  a 
few  women  in  the  boxes.  The  acting  was  excellent ;  the 
natives  are  born  actors,  and  I  think  we  all  felt  the  emotions 
intended ;  but  as  the  play  was  conveyed  in  dumb-show, 
except  where  in  certain  cases  it  was  supplemented  by 
modern  Greek,  we  were  uncertain  of  the  plot,  which  was 
highly  military  and  political,  and  it  was  variously  explained 
as  the  siege  of  Troy  or  of  Ladysmith.  We  remained  about 
three  hours,  but  our  Greek  servant,  who  did  not  return  till 
midnight,  said  we  had  missed  the  better  half,  and  must  go 
again.  "For  the  love  of  God,  master, you  must  go  !  You 
will  forget  all  your  anxieties — all  your  relations  !  " — a  revela- 
tion perhaps  of  Dimitri's  domestic  concerns. 

In  the  morning  the  Moslem  women  often  go  shopping. 
They  are  large  bundles  wrapped  up  in  white  cotton  or  purple 
silk  sheets,  with  ball-room  slippers  and  wooden  clogs.  It 
takes  six  to  choose  a  piece  of  stuff  and  an  immense  expendi- 
ture of  coffee,  cigarettes,  time,  and  the  endurance  of  the 
shopkeepers,  and  any  other  customers  present,  to  decide  how 
much  they  shall  pay  for  it.  "  The  word  of  a  Frank,"  the 
phrase  which  plays  so  romantic  a  part  in  travellers'  tales, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  is  equivalent  to  our  "  sharp  practice," 
is  the  final  statement  of  your  intentions — "  the  last  price  "  in 
any  commercial  transaction.  It  means  that  contrary  to  local 
custom,  and  consistently  with  Frankish  habits,  you  don't 
want  coffee,  cigarettes,  argument,  but  are  willing  to  pay  a 
quarter  of  the  price  asked — or  go.  It  is  a  custom  not 
appreciated,  for  that  "  time  is  money  "  and  "  business  is 
business  "  are  facts  which  few  Arabs  have  yet  mastered. 

It  is  on  the  occasion  of  a  wedding  that  the  Moslem  woman 
is  in  her  element.  The  object  of  her  existence  is  to  be  mar- 
ried and  have  children.  The  husband  is  householder, 
provider,  father ;  it  is  the  merest  chance  if  he  be  friend,  or 
companion,  for  she  probably  never  sees  him  till  the  knot  is 
tied,  for  even  if,  as  commonly  happens,  she  marries  a  near 

302 


THE   MOSLEM   WOMAN   IN   JERUSALEM 

relative,  there  is,  in   the  upper  classes,  no  companionship 
between  even  children  of  opposite  sexes. 

We  have  been  fortunate  in  seeing  weddings  of  various 
classes  and  degrees  of  dignity,  but  an  invitation  into  the 
exclusive  circle  of  the  Moslem  effendi  is  not  to  be  easily 
had  on  an  important  and  festive  occasion.  At  last, 
however,  we  were  bidden  to  a  wedding  under  just  the  con- 
ditions we  would  have  chosen — not  showy,  as  among  the 
nouveaux  riches,  but  in  the  innermost  circle  of  the  gentle 
classes  of  Jerusalem. 

We  go  first  to  the  bridegroom's  house,  or  rather  dwelling, 
for  the  house  is  shared  with  his  two  brothers  and  then:  wives 
and  children,  having  in  common  a  large  central  hall  or 
lewan,  a  dining-room  and  a  kitchen;  the  sleeping-rooms, 
which  serve  also  for  boudoirs,  being  the  only  private  apart- 
ments. 

He  belongs  to  one  of  the  most  distinguished,  though  not 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  prosperous  families  in  Jerusalem. 
The  advantage,  in  point  of  means,  is  with  the  lady,  who, 
moreover,  is,  by  some  dozen  years,  the  senior,  which  may  be 
taken  to  equalize  matters,  she  also  being  of  the  old  aristo- 
cracy of  the  city. 

She  is  an  orphan,  we  are  told,  living  with  an  only  brother 
under  conditions  of  such  domestic  tranquillity  as  have  led 
to  a  somewhat  unusual  postponement  of  marriage,  a  great 
number  of  eligible  proposals  having  been  refused  on  her 
behalf. 

All  this  is  explained  to  me  en  route  by  the  kind  friends  to 
whose  intercession  I  am  indebted  for  the  invitation. 

We  are  met  at  the  gate  by  a  little  boy  of  perhaps  ten  years 
of  age,  who  might  have  looked  very  well  in  a  native  kumbaz, 
or  even  in  the  sailor-suit  or  kilt  which  in  our  eyes  would  be 
suitable  to  his  time  of  life,  but  who,  in  ill-cut  drab  coat  and 
trousers,  a  shirt  front,  and  elaborate  necktie  surmounted  by 
a  scarlet  tarbush,  is  sufficiently  grotesque.  He  is,  however, 
a  somewhat  important  personage,  being  the  only  son  of  the 

303 


head  of  the  family,  who  occupies  a  handsome  house  by  the 
side  of  that  we  are  now  entering,  and  whose  wife,  from  her 
position  in  the  faniily,  acts  as  hostess  upon  the  present  oc- 
casion. The  fact  that  she  is  known  only  as  the  "  mother  of 
Mousa,"  the  quaint  little  figure  that  has  escorted  us  from  the 
carriage  to  the  house-door,  is  one  of  those  features  of  the  life 
here,  which  so  often  exhibit  what  seems  to  us  an  extraordin- 
ary lack  of  the  sense  of  proportion  ;  for  the  mother  of  Mousa 
has  a  very  distinct  individuality  and  will  long  remain  in 
my  memory  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  gracious  gentle- 
women it  has  ever  been  my  good  fortune  to  meet.  During  the 
eight  hours  in  which  we  remain  her  guests,  mere  items  in 
a  crowd  of  several  score,  the  consciousness  of  her  graceful 
and  kindly  hospitality  never  fails  us  ;  she  is  a  perfect  hostess, 
calm,  dignified,  yet  attentive  to  every  trifle  by  which  she 
may  give  pleasure  to  others. 

We  are  to  remain  here  until  the  time  arrives  for  fetching 
the  bride  from  her  own  home,  but  we  find  no  lack  of  enter- 
tainment. We  are  introduced  into  the  bed-room  of  a  sister- 
in-law  of  the  bridegroom,  herself  the  bride  of  a  year  ago, 
and  the  proud  possessor  of  an  infant  son.  Seated  on  the 
floor,  in  front  of  a  large  wardrobe  with  plate-glass  doors, 
two  or  three  ladies  are  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  their 
toilet,  a  fact  which  does  not  in  the  least  embarrass  them,  for, 
after  bidding  us  a  kindly  welcome,  they  return  to  their 
former  position  and  continue  to  stick  flowers  in  their  hair 
and  to  put  on  necklaces  and  brooches.  To  acquire  their 
names  was  out  of  the  question,  but  I  resolved  to  differentiate 
them  as  the  "  mauve  brocade,"  the  "  maize  silk,"  and  the 
"  blue  satin,"  a  mental  process  which  was  also  a  failure,  as 
each  changed  her  dress  at  least  three  times  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day  ! 

It  was  equally  out  of  the  question  to  ascertain  who  was 
who,  for  the  relationships  of  the  leading  families  here  are 
as  complicated  and  as  intricate  as  those  of  royalties  at  home, 
and  for  the  same  reason — of  frequent,  in  fact  enforced,  inter- 

304 


THE    MOSLEM    WOMAN    IN   JERUSALEM 

marriage.  Moreover,  age  is  no  criterion  in  a  country  where 
there  may  be  only  thirteen  years'  difference  between  mother 
and  daughter,  and  where  a  woman  is  a  grandmother  at 
thirty. 

A  little  girl  of  about  ten  was  anxious  to  exhibit  her  new 
frock  and  henna-stained  hands,  and  I  was  equally  glad  to 
examine  them  in  detail.  The  finger  ends,  to  the  depth  of 
perhaps  an  inch,  were  stained  a  ruddy  brown,  a  few  lines 
were  traced  on  the  back,  but  the  real  triumph  of  art  was  on 
the  palms,  which  were  adorned  with  a  conventional  bud 
and  leaf  in  lozenge-shaped  groups  like  a  lodging-house  wall- 
paper, and  I  observed  that  most  of  the  ladies  carried  their 
hands  palm  forwards,  so  that  the  decoration  should  be  seen 
to  full  advantage. 

This  is  perhaps  the  best  opportunity  to  describe  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  such  a  work  of  art  is  achieved. 
Unfortunately  I  was  not  present  upon  the  precise  occasion 
in  question,  and  can  only  speak  from  recollection  of  a  similar 
incident  elsewhere. 

About  two  days  before  the  marriage,  the  bride,  accom- 
panied by  all  her  most  intimate  friends,  adjourns  to  the  bath, 
Hammdm,  which  is,  in  every  respect,  essentially  the  same 
institution  as  the  Turkish  bath  anywhere  else. 

On  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer  the  friends  were  very 
numerous,  for  friendship  is  a  great  feature  of  Oriental  life, 
and  it  is  even  said  that  a  woman  without  gossips  will  find 
it  difficult  to  get  to  heaven,  for  social  freedom  and  harmony 
procures  forgiveness  of  sins.  Friends  must  be  faithful  to 
each  other  through  good  and  evil  report,  and  it  is  a  command 
of  the  Sunnah  1  that,  alike  in  pleasure  and  in  prayer,  de- 
ceased friends  should  not  be  forgotten. 

Besides  all  the  usual  functions  of  the  Turkish  bath,  the 

soaping,  the  lavement,  the  massage,  which  are  here  performed 

to  the  perfection  of  luxury,  a  temptation  of  the  flesh  it  would 

take  a  saint  to  resist,  one  has  certain  additions  in  the  em- 

1  i.e.  According  to  the  traditions  and  law  of  the  Prophet. 

305  X 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

ployment  of  perfumes  and  of  a  species  of  hypnotization  in 
which  the  Oriental  bathing- women  are  adepts. 

But  the  preparation  of  the  bride  involves  special  features 
in  which  no  woman  not  married  or  about  to  be  married  is 
allowed  to  share,  and  which  few  are  privileged  to  witness,  of 
which  the  principal  is  the  use  of  the  nura,  a  very  powerful 
depilatory1  consisting,  apparently,  largely  of  quicklime. 
With  this,  even  the  down  of  the  face  is  removed,  with  a 
result  one  must  be  an  Oriental  to  admire,  as  the  skin  is 
left  with  a  hard,  and  almost  raw  appearance,  which  the 
lustrous  powder,  subsequently  applied,  does  not  greatly 
ameliorate.  It  is  a  good  omen  if  one  of  the  bride's  com- 
panions be  a  woman  who  has  lately  become  for  the  first  time 
a  mother.  The  lighted  candle  which,  during  a  part  of  the 
performance,  she  holds  in  her  hand,  and  which  served  at 
her  own  wedding-feast  (under  circumstances  to  be  described 
later),  is  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  offered  for  the  bride's  ac- 
ceptance. While  reposing  in  the  cooling  room  she  is  expected 
to  partake  not  only  of  the  coffee  offered  to  all  present,  but  of 
some  special  food  which  appeared  to  consist  of  yolks  of  eggs 
and  of  seeds.  A  great  deal  of  time  was  spent  at  this  stage, 
many  of  the  ladies  going  to  sleep,  a  very  natural  consequence 
of  a  process  at  once  exhausting  and  soothing.  After  this, 
a  certain  amount  of  toilet  was  de  rigueur,  a  somewhat  classical 
peplum,  or  at  most  a  sheet  having  hitherto  sufficed  ;  there 
was  much  brushing  and  plaiting  of  hair,  and  resumption  of 
bangles,  and  much  merriment,  sometimes  in  directions 
startlingly  inconsistent  with  extreme  etiquette  in  others. 
Truly  was  it  a  case  of  Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense.  The 
Oriental  women  are  only  grown  up  children  after  all,  and 
their  play  is  little  more  than  kittenish.  Next  came  the 
artists — the  inevitable  Sheikhats — the  professional  advisers 
on  all  matters  relating  to  the  health,  beauty  and  domestic 


1  The  esoteric  meaning   of  this  process  will  be  obvious  to  the 
anthropologist. 

306 


THE    MOSLEM    WOMAN    IN   JERUSALEM 

affairs  of  the  women — a  combination  as  it  were  of  Truefitt, 
Harley  Street  doctor,  and  the  Matrimonial  Gazette. 

All  the  women  who  were  preparing  for  the  approaching 
festivities  submitted,  in  some  degree,  to  treatment,  some 
having  the  hands  alone  decorated,  others  having  kohol 
applied  to  the  eyes,  others  again  having  the  front  of  the 
foot  and  the  toe-nails  henna-stained,  the  bride  alone  being 
treated  with  any  great  elaborateness.1  The  process  was  a 
kind  of  stencilling,  stiff  and  formal  as  to  design,  which  ex- 
tended in  a  sort  of  trellis-pattern  over  the  neck  and  breast, 
a  survival  possibly  of  the  tattooing  still  customary  among 
the  Bedu. 

After  purification  and  decoration  at  the  Hammam  the 
bride  remains  apart,  taking  no  share  in  what  goes  on  around 
her — which  brings  us  back  to  our  point  of  departure,  the 
companions  whom  we  found  awaiting  the  hour  for  fetching 
her  to  her  new  home. 

Coffee  was  served  and  sweetmeats  handed  round,  and  then 
our  kind  hostess,  learning  that  this  was  my  first  presence  at 
such  an  entertainment,  asked  if  we  would  like  to  see  the 
preparations  made  for  the  reception  of  the  bride.  We  were 
accordingly  conducted  to  her  room,  which  was  large  and 
handsome,  though  somewhat  dark,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  windows — to  begin  with  too  high  to  see  out  of — were, 
moreover,  blocked  with  piles  of  silk-covered  lehafs  or 
wadded  quilts,  and,  with  the  long,  hard  bolsters  which  serve 
as  pillows,  a  necessary  part  of  the  bride's  outfit,  partly  for 
purposes  of  hospitality,  partly  for  ordinary  use,  as  the  very 
ornate  sleeping  arrangements  we  were  about  to  see  are  re- 
garded as  ornamental  rather  than  useful,  except  on  festive 
occasions. 

The  handsome  marble  floor  was  strewn  with  costly  and 
beautiful  carpets,  the  "  prayer-carpet,"  however,  a  real  work 

3  Not  so,  however,  in  the  case  of  the  heroine  of  the  present  chapter, 
who,  as  far  as  I  could  discover,  had  only  her  hands  decorated  and 
that  very  moderately. 

307 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

of  art,  in  rich  shades  of  red  and  blue  silk,  being  folded  and 
laid  aside  for  the  bridegroom's  use.  Two  sides  of  the  room 
were  occupied  with  low  divans  richly  covered  with  crimson 
velvet,  heavily  embroidered  in  gold  thread.  There  was  a 
very  handsome  inlaid  wardrobe,  with  plate-glass  doors  ;  a 
chest  of  drawers,  many  cupboards  in  the  thickness  of 
the  wall,  and  a  bedstead  which,  though  small,  was  the  most 
conspicuous  article  of  furniture  in  the  room.  By  birth  a 
mere  Tottenham  Court  Road  cast-iron  bedstead,  it  was 
idealized  by  the  Oriental  imagination  into  a  very  apotheosis 
of  repose,  surmounted  by  draperies  caught  up  with  branches 
of  palm  and  sprays  of  orange  flowers.  The  counterpane  was 
of  such  fineness  that  it  might  have  been  passed  through 
a  ring,  a  rose-coloured  silk  pillow — it  is  etiquette  that  there 
should  be  but  one — was  covered  with  the  finest  linen,  open- 
hemmed  and  bordered  with  lace ;  the  very  vallance  was  a 
miracle  of  tucks  and  insertions,  with  frillings  having  tucks 
and  insertions  de  nouveau.  On  the  deep  window-seat, 
upon  one  of  the  X  shaped  book-rests  with  which  Liberty 
has  familiarized  us,  lay  a  Koran,  open  at  the  Sura  of  Joseph, 
possibly  by  way  of  inculcating  conjugal  fidelity. 

Beside  it  was  a  young  cypress-tree,  heavily  decorated  with 
gold-leaf,  and  enveloped  in  a  veil  of  red  gauze,  and  a  dish  of 
seeds,  also  carefully  covered  over  ;  palm-leaves  decorated 
with  gold  leaf  were  arranged  in  groups  upon  the  wall,  and 
some  phials,  also  covered  with  gauze,  probably  contained  the 
dose  of  camphor,  rose-water  and  certain  seeds  which,  it  is 
said,  should  never  be  omitted  by  the  bride  who  wishes  to 
avoid  the  misfortune  of  being  the  mother  of  a  daughter 
instead  of  a  son  and  heir. 

On  the  chest  of  drawers  were  arranged  some  nargilehs, 
coffee-cups  and  trays.  Anything  you  do  not  find  upon 
the  furniture  in  an  Arab  house  should  be  sought  for 
on  the  floor,  for  the  Arab  sits  down,  and  as  a  rule 
low  down,  for  most  of  the  functions  of  life,  from  stone- 
cutting  to  coffee-grinding,  from  making  a  horseshoe 

308 


MOSLEM  WOMEN  ATTIRED  IN  MANDII.S  AND  IZZAKS. 


to  embroidering  a  dress.  Accordingly,  we  were  not 
surprised  to  find  on  the  floor  the  toilet  apparatus,  con- 
sisting of  ewer  and  basin  in  beaten  brass,  a  delight  to  the 
eye,  but  not,  to  English  notions,  of  any  special  utility  as  a 
substitute  for  our  more  homely  "  tub."  On  a  tray,  also  on 
the  floor,  we  discovered  a  collection  of  dainty  shoes,  gold 
and  silver-embroidered  on  coloured  satin,  adapted  in  some 
degree  for  daily  use  by  insertion,  each  pair  in  its  own  clogs, 
generally  of  dark,  hard  wood,  inlaid  in  mother-of-pearl,  a 
few  of  the  best  pairs  being  roughly  shaped  into  the  likeness 
of  a  shoe  and,  one  would  suppose,  the  better  adapted  for 
walking. 

Beside  the  bed  lay  a  richly-embroidered  velvet  wrapper 
folded  envelope-wise,  into  which  we  were  allowed  to  peep, 
and  which  contained  the  toilet  of  the  bridegroom,  new  to 
the  smallest  detail.  Indeed,  we  audaciously  penetrated 
even  into  drawers  and  wardrobes,  for  our  kind  hostess  said, 
"  Look  and  inquire  as  much  as  you  like  ;  if  we  came  to  a 
wedding  at  your  house,  we  should  want  to  ask  about  every- 
thing," a  permission  of  which  we  gladly  availed  our- 
selves. 

Countless  dresses,  in  every  shade  of  delicate  silk,  hung  in 
the  wardrobe,  many  of  them  very  elaborate,  made  with  a 
vague  yearning  after  European  outline  and  decorated  with 
the  inartistic  meaninglessness  which  bespeaks  much  study 
of  fashion-plates,  which,  in  fact,  solved  for  us  the  life-long 
problem,  "  Who  is  found  to  wear  the  garments  depicted 
in  ladies'  papers  ?  "  There  were  piles  of  mandils,  squares  of 
coloured  muslin,  stamped  with  the  large  sprawling  pattern 
with  which  the  Oriental  woman  covers  her  face  ;  there  was 
a  choice  of  izzars,  the  silk  sheets  with  which  she  envelops 
her  entire  person,  when  she  goes  out  of  doors,  and  which 
consists  of  two  skirts,  connected  by  a  drawing-string  at  the 
waist,  the  upper  one  being  raised  to  cover  the  head.  There 
were  piles  of  dainty  linen  of  shapes  which  went  far  to  explain 
the  lack  of  outline  in  the  figure  of  the  Oriental  woman  ;  there 

309 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

were  cosmetics  from  Paris,  rosewater  from  Damascus,  and 
silk  gloves  that  set  our  teeth  on  edge. 

All  this  while  visitors  had  been  collecting,  and  by  the 
time  we  had  finished  our  inspection  the  room  was  full  of 
women,  some  handsomely  dressed  and  jewelled,  others  ap- 
parently poor,  but  probably  relatives,  for  the  Arabs,  like  the 
Highlanders,  make  family,  rather  than  wealth,  the  criterion 
of  distinction,  and,  indeed,  one  of  their  rules  for  the  choice 
of  a  wife  is  "  Take  a  woman  of  a  clan,  even  if  she  be  on  a 
mat  "  ;  that  is,  if  her  sleeping-mat  spread  on  the  ground  be 
her  only  possession.  Among  them  were  several  nursing- 
mothers  with  their  infants,  "  for  good  luck,"  it  was  explained, 
an  explanation,  by  the  way,  so  frequently  offered  as  all- 
sufficing,  that  I  soon  fell  back  upon  such  knowledge  of 
folk-lore  and  tradition  as  I  possessed  as  offering  information 
at  least  less  generic  than  the  invariable  answer  which  they 
themselves  seemed  to  consider  sufficient. 

On  religious  points  especiaUy,  I  found  information  difficult 
to  obtain.  The  contract  of  engagement  appears  to  be  the 
only  occasion  of  religious  ceremonial  and  consists  in  prayer 
and  in  reading  the  first  Sura  of  the  Koran  ;  the  marriage 
itself  is  regarded  as  merely  the  sequel  to  the  earlier  and 
equally  binding  performance.  We,  however,  elicited,  among 
other  details  of  the  final  denouement  of  the  drama,  that 
the  beautiful  prayer-carpet,  with  its  distinctive  design 
roughly  representing  a  minaret,  would  not  be  used  on  the  first 
occasion  of  prayer  by  the  newly  married  pair,  but  that  the 
bridegroom,  on  retiring  at  the  end  of  the  public  festivities, 
would  make  his  devotions  kneeling  upon  the  lady's  train. 
The  first  seven  days  of  matrimony  are  regarded  as  devoted 
to  festivity,  and  any  elaboration  of  ritual  is  considered  as 
superfluous  and  unfitting  ;  but  it  is  recommended  that  the 
bride  should  ask  for  the  blessing  of  Allah  upon  her  relations 
with  the  family  of  her  husband,  a  point  in  which  the  poor 
thing  must  indeed  often  stand  in  need  of  supernatural 
guidance ! 

310 


THE    MOSLEM   WOMAN   IN   JERUSALEM 

I  could  not  resist  some  further  discussion  in  this  direc- 
tion. Our  beautiful  hostess  declared  herself  specially 
fortunate,  for  not  only  had  she,  with  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren, a  house  to  themselves,  which  she  acknowledged  to  be  a 
great  advantage,  but,  moreover,  her  husband  had  all  the 
perfections  of  the  hero  of  a  lady's  novel,  an  allegation  which 
she  proceeded  to  support  by  the  narration  of  many  incidents 
in  which  she  seemed  convinced  that  any  other  man  would 
have  shown  impatience  or  resentment.  I  observed  that 
the  other  ladies  present  made  no  remark.  The  temptations 
to  jealousy  can  be  but  few  in  Moslem  circles  ;  and  though  it 
is  alleged  that  divorces  are  frequent,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  they  are  never  on  account  of  conduct  such  as  is  discussed 
shamelessly  in  our  own  newspapers  ;  for  it  is  ordered  that  a 
Moslem  woman,  convicted  of  immorality,  shall  be  put  to 
death.  Even  to  bring  an  accusation  of  misconduct  is  here 
a  very  serious  matter,  and  the  accuser,  if  unable  to  sub- 
stantiate it,  upon  a  solemn  and  thrice  repeated  oath,  is 
also  condemned  to  death,  so  that  in  the  matter  of  the 
seventh  and  ninth  commandments  their  standard,  and  at 
least  theoretically  their  conduct,  is  infinitely  superior  to  our 
own. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  mention  that,  either  by  her  mother, 
some  near  female  relative,  or,  failing  that,  by  the  Sheikhat, 
a  well  brought  up  girl  is  always  instructed  in  what  is  sunnat 
in  reference  to  her  future  conduct  as  a  bride,  which 
involves,  in  addition  to  the  usual  responsibilities,  certain 
recondite  points  of  ritual,  so  that  it  is  imperative  even 
more  than  in  other  cases,  that  she  should  not  be  left  to 
the  "  light  of  nature." 

About  five  o'clock  we  were  invited  to  take  supper — a  few 
specially  honoured  guests  round  a  table  in  the  dining-room j 
the  remainder  upon  mats  in  the  hall.  The  whole  meal  was 
served  at  once,  and  you  ate  of  the  dishes  in  any  sequence 
that  occurred  to  you.  Each  of  us  had  a  plate,  a  knife,  a 
spoon  and  fork,  a  table-napkin  and  a  large  flat  cake  of 

311 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

excellent  bread.  We  helped  ourselves  with  our  own 
spoons,  and  cleaned  our  plates  with  bread,  when  the  nature 
of  the  succeeding  course  suggested  a  lack  of  harmony  with 
the  last. 

Everything  was  well-cooked  and  nicely  served  ;  among 
novelties  were  mutton  stewed  in  lebben,  a  kind  of  butter- 
milk ;  mutton  admirably  farpi  with  ingredients  hard  to 
guess  at ;  cabbage  served  with  slices  of  lemon  ;  rice  variously 
cooked  and  coloured,  sweet  and  savoury  ;  a  delicious  blanc- 
mange made  with  many  varieties  of  nuts  and  seeds  ;  and  a 
compote  of  apricots  and  prunes  which  was  not  only  good, 
but  extremely  gratifying  to  my  curiosity,  for  I  had  long 
desired  to  taste,  as  now,  the  dish  that  I  was  assured  was  made 
out  of  the  sheets  of — apparently — brown  paper,  which  I  had 
often  observed  in  the  market,  and  which  consist  of  dried 
apricots  subsequently  soaked,  and  used  as  the  basis  for 
compotes  of  other  fruits.  The  water  offered  as  beverage 
was  not  inviting — wine  is,  of  course,  absent,  and  as 
frequent  cups  of  coffee  are  provocative  of  thirst,  we  sighed 
vainly  for  the  unattainable  teapot. 

Finally  a  long  string  of  carriages  drove  up  to  the  door, 
the  ladies  quickly  draped  themselves  in  mandil  and  izzar, 
and  put  on  their  clogs  ;  collected  the  omnipresent  contingent 
of  unmanageable  children,  and  we  were  off.  As  we  were 
going  to  the  home  of  an  heiress  it  was  somewhat  surprising 
to  be  driven  into  the  heart  of  the  city,  turned  out  at  a  point 
beyond  which  it  was  impossible  for  carriages  to  pass,  con- 
ducted through  slums  that  would  disgrace  Whitechapel, 
and  after  ducking  under  arches,  scrambling  down  steps, 
slipping  over  unspeakable  filth  in  a  pitch-dark  tunnel,  finally 
hauled  up  a  squalid  stone  staircase,  and  we  were  in  the 
midst  of  the  festive  scene  ! 

We  were  greeted  with  showers  of  rose-water,  and  with  the 
curious  cries  peculiar  to  occasions  of  rejoicing.  We  were 
hurried  into  a  great  hall,  so  closely  packed  with  women  that 
it  was  difficult  to  take  our  bearings,  but  at  length  a  way 

312 


THE    MOSLEM   WOMAN   IN   JERUSALEM 

was  made  for  us  through  the  crowd,  and  we  found  ourselves 
seated  on  a  divan  facing  the  audience. 

I  use  the  word  "  audience  "  advisedly,  for  the  divan 
served  as  a  stage,  in  the  midst  of  which,  upon  a  chair,  raised 
above  everything  else,  sat  an  absolutely  motionless  figure 
draped  in  a  striped  silk  sheet,  which  fell  over  chair  and  all, 
and  lay  in  folds  about  her  feet.  Our  hostess,  who  was 
privileged,  both  as  cousin  of  the  bride  and  sister-in-law  of 
the  groom,  with  characteristic  kindness  brought  up  a  glass  of 
lemonade  and,  lifting  a  corner  of  the  veil,  put  it  to  the  lips 
of  the  prisoner  so  unhappily  circumstanced,  and  seemed  to 
offer  caressing  and  encouraging  words. 

In  front  of  the  stage,  upon  a  round  table  composed  of  an 
immense  brass  tray  upon  a  stand,  stood  a  crowd  of  some 
scores  of  lighted  candles  of  yellow  wax,  decorated  with 
leaves  and  sprays  of  foliage.  Behind  this  was  placed  a  row 
of  chairs  reserved  for  the  professional  merry  makers — a 
gigantic  negress,  who  played  skilfully  upon  the  zither,  and 
some  other  women  who  sang  and  thrummed  the  tambourines 
made  of  skins  stretched  upon  an  earthenware  foundation, 
which  are  essential  to  Oriental  festivities.  At  intervals 
coffee  was  handed  round,  followed  by  cigarettes,  sweet- 
meats, lemonade,  or  preserved  fruits  ;  and  suddenly,  at  a 
signal  from  the  negress,  the  mistress  of  ceremonies,  the 
music  ceased,  and  a  rush  was  made  at  the  lighted  candles. 
In  an  instant  the  table  was  cleared,  the  tray  overturned, 
the  decorations  scattered  on  the  ground.  Only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  crowd  could  be  the  happy  possessors  of  the 
coveted  treasures,  said  to  be  most  particularly  provocative  of 
"  good  luck  " — more  exact  information  was  lacking.  Our 
hostess  was  careful  to  see  that  we  had  our  chance,  and  we 
are  still  awaiting  the  issue  !  Then  the  band  struck  up 
again,  the  zither,  the  tambourines,  and  some  cymbals  out 
of  tune  with  the  tambourines.  The  space  cleared  by  the 
disappearance  of  the  table  was  reserved  for  a  professional 
dancer,  who  now  appeared  upon  the  scene.  I  had  recently 

313 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

read  a  description  of  such  a  one,  written  by  a  young  Syrian 
whom  I  knew  as  one  of  educated  taste,  and  was  curious 
to  realize  the  picture  he  had  evoked  in  the  following  terms  :— 

"  Dressed  in  her  best,  with  neck,  face,  head  and  hands 
all  gleaming  with  jewels  and  gold,  with  a  silk  handkerchief 
waving  in  the  one  hand,  and  a  graceful  curve  made  to  the 
hip  with  the  other,  and  with  her  sweet  abashed  eyes  rivetted 
on  the  ground,  the  handsome  Syrian  woman  dances  to  the 
sound  of  music.  Many  are  the  movements  and  curves  she 
makes.  Like  a  delicate  palm  tree  swayed  by  the  gentle 
breeze,  she  moves  to  and  fro,"  and  so  on. 

Autre  race  autre  mosurs  !  There  was  a  more  or  less  hand- 
some Syrian  woman,  there  were  the  jewels  and  the  gold  and 
the  silk  handkerchief — but  for  the  rest !  Probably  the  ladies 
present  would  have  fainted  with  horror  at  the  sight  of  our 
dancing — we  were  thankful  to  look  away  from  theirs,  but 
I  don't  know  that  any  other  eyes  were  "  abashed  "  except 
our  own. 

Presently,  to  our  relief,  the  young  woman  subsided  and 
singing  began  again.  There  was  so  much  noise  that  the 
words  were  undistinguishable,  but  I  have  since  learnt  that 
they  were  probably  somewhat  as  follows  : — 

God  be  with  you,  maiden  ;  weeping  is  vain. 

Your  fate  is  declared.     Whatever  you  desire  in  your  father's 

house, 
Now  is  the  time  to  bring  it  with  you. 

The  time  to  go  has  come.     Up  with  you  O  bride  !     The  night- 
ingale has  sung.     The  cock  has  crowed. 
Under  your  bridegroom's  windows  merchants  are  standing : 
They  have  jewels  to  grace  those  pretty  hands. 

There  was  a  sound  of  shouting  without.  The  singing 
ceased,  the  women  hastily  veiled  themselves ;  there  was  sil- 
ence as  three  tall  men  entered  the  room — sheiks  of  the  Temple 
in  picturesque  smoke-coloured  robes  (jubr),  with  snowy  tur- 
ban— uncles  and  brother  of  the  bride.  Our  hostess  advanced 

314 


THE    MOSLEM   WOMAN    IN   JERUSALEM 

raised  her  veil,  and  respectfully  kissed  both  hands  of  the 
oldest — her  father.  The  uncles  advanced  to  the  feet  of  the 
bride  ;  each  ungirded  his  sword,  heavy  with  massive  scabbard 
and  silver  mountings,  and  both  were  passed  over  her  head, 
where  they  hung  round  her  neck  by  a  cord,  a  sign  that  she 
was  now  under  authority,  swaying  to  right  and  left,  almost 
touching  the  ground,  as,  moving  for  the  first  time,  she  rose 
to  her  feet.  It  was  now  the  brother's  turn  to  approach  her, 
in  order  to  conduct  her  to  the  bridegroom's  house.  We 
could  not  but  feel  that  it  was  a  high  tribute  to  the  qualities 
which  had  provoked  such  fraternal  tenderness,  that  he 
burst  into  tears  and  rushed  from  the  room.  An  awkward 
pause  followed.  The  negress,  whose  function  seemed  to  be 
to  elicit  gaiety,  struck  up  a  song.  The  guests  responded, 
there  was  hand-clapping,  and  the  usual  indescribable  shrilling 
of  the  lips  ;  the  words  probably  as  follows  : — 

O  bride,  your  look  is  like  the  moon, 

Your  face  is  as  round  as  a  tray. 
What  has  been  showered  upon  you  in  your  home 

Is  as  nothing  to  what  is  your  gain  in  marriage. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  brother  returned,  a  dignified  elderly 
man,  with  long  beard  and  downcast  eyes.  The  bride  descen- 
ded from  her  throne,  assisted  at  every  step,  for,  enshrouded 
as  she  was,  to  see  her  way  was  impossible.  The  crowd 
closed  in  behind  her  and  we  at  once  made  our  way  through 
the  darkness  and  slush  to  find  our  carriages.  The  rain  was 
now  falling  in  torrents,  but  this,  too,  we  were  told,  was 
"  good  luck,"  a  promise  of  the  fertility  of  Mother  Earth.1 

The  immediate  family  of  course  went  first,  so  that  by  the 
time  we  reached  the  bridegroom's  house  the  bride  was 
installed.  The  hall  was  fuU  of  servants  and  dependants  ; 
the  negress  was  there  too,  and  the  professional  dancers  and 
singers,  and,  in  addition,  some  five  or  six  white-robed 
Sheikhats  gliding  about,  superintending  generally,  passing  In 

1  Compare  the  English  saying :  "  Happy  is  the  bride  that  the 
rain  rains  on." 

315 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

and  out  of  the  bride's  chamber,  making  various  arrangements 
consistent  with  their  professional  duties.  There  was  some- 
thing in  their  mysterious  presence,  something  disagreeably 
suggestive  of  "  undertaking,"  of  an  immolation,  a  sacrifice  ; 
and  it  was  with  a  shudder  of  repulsion  that  we  turned  to  a 
scene  not  less  weird,  but  more  social  in  its  aspect. 

The  dining-room  had  been  cleared  of  the  table  and  the 
four  or  five  chairs  which  constituted  its  furniture,  cushions 
had  been  placed  upon  the  floor  all  round  the  room,  a  single 
lamp  burnt  sulkily  upon  the  window-sill,  and  in  the  corner, 
propped  up  against  the  wall,  sat  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes,  the 
bride,  still  motionless  and  still  veiled. 

Presently  came  a  summons  to  my  companion — "  Would 
she  dress  the  bride  ?  "  She  consented,  and  I  was  allowed 
the  privilege  of  assisting  her.  We  repaired  to  the  corner, 
got  down  upon  the  floor,  and  proceeded  to  unpack  the  em- 
broidered silk  envelope  which  contained  all  the  necessary 
articles  of  toilet ;  a  pink  silk  dress  trimmed  with  lace,  a 
creation  of  the  Sceurs  de  Charite,  pink  embroidered  shoes, 
the  bridal  veil,  the  box  of  cosmetics  and  perfumes,  a  box  of 
additional  ribbons  and  laces,  and  a  comb  which  a  decently 
groomed  horse  would  have  resented,  coarse,  jagged,  and  of 
the  impracticable  variety  known  as  a  tooth-comb. 

Next,  the  veil  was  removed,  and  a  fine,  strapping 
woman  of  a  year  or  two  over  thirty  exposed  to  view  ;  her 
eyes  were  closed,  her  face  destitute  of  expression,  her  limbs 
lax  :  she  was  playing  her  part  to  perfection.  She  had  an 
immense  "  pig- tail  "  of  jet-black  hair  to  be  coiffe  for  the  first 
time.  We  sent  for  another  comb.  We  removed  the  long 
shapeless  white  dress  that  she  wore  and  found  another 
exactly  like  it  underneath,  and  another  below  that.  The 
dress,  more  or  less  of  European  design,  into  which  she  had  to 
be  got,  had  a  waist  band  of  unprecedented  proportions,  but 
even  so  we  looked  at  each  other  in  silent  despair.  The 
shapeless  corsets,  our  only  ally,  promised  little  assistance, 
and  one  of  us  murmured  :  "It  will  take  a  couple  of  strong 

316 


THE    MOSLEM    WOMAN    IN    JERUSALEM 

men  to  do  this."  Nevertheless,  with  much  perseverance  on 
our  part  and  much  fortitude  upon  that  of  the  bride,  the 
thing  was  done,  her  only  sign  of  life  a  shake  of  the  head,  when 
my  companion  asked  if  she  were  hurting  her.  The  magnifi- 
cent hair  was  made  up  into  a  Psyche  coil,  and  then  we  fell 
to  upon  the  creation  of  a  complexion.  The  grease-paint 
lay  so  nicely  on  the  well-curved  throat,  that  it  seemed  a 
pity  not  to  add  a  little  extra,  and  as  time  and  endurance  did 
not  fail,  we  proposed  to  make  the  dress  slightly  decollete,  a 
suggestion  repudiated  with  horror  by  the  crowd  of  onlookers, 
who  were  most  of  them  sitting  at  the  moment  in  attitudes 
which  exhibited  their  garters.  Truly  propriety  is  a  question 
of  custom  ! 

The  toilet  finished,  it  only  remained  to  put  on  the  jewels, 
which  were  produced  out  of  a  leather  bag  by  one  of  the  group 
of  elderly  women  who  had  played  secondary  lady's  maids. 
A  necklace,  consisting  of  thirty  large  gold  coins  of  a  favourite 
Hungarian  variety,  worth  slightly  more  than  two  napoleons 
and  a  half  each,  reached  to  her  waist.  Two  ropes,  each  of 
twenty-eight  strands  of  seed  pearls,  came  next.  Then  a 
large  diamond  locket  was  produced.  There  was  no  chain, 
and  we  sought  in  vain  for  a  pink  ribbon,  and  finally  took 
refuge  in  a  yellow  one,  which  looked  pink  in  the  lamp  light, 
not  without  some  qualms  that  it  would  be  put  on  again  by 
daylight  next  morning,  and  would  pass  into  history  as  English 
taste.  Then  came  various  brooches ;  then  so  many  dia- 
mond sprays  that  the  beautiful  Psyche  knot  looked  like  a 
show  cushion  in  a  jeweller's  window.  Rings  and  bracelets 
were  placed  on  hands  and  wrists.  There  seemed  space  for 
nothing  more ;  but  at  the  last  moment  a  bunch  of  flowers 
was  handed  over,  which  we  were  required  to  distribute  on 
head  and  breast,  a  semi-transparent  lace  veil  was  thrown 
over  her  head,  and  that  act  in  the  drama  was  complete. 

Sounds  of  music  and  shouting  outside.  "  Behold  the 
bridegroom  cometh  "  arose  to  our  lips,  and  we  hastened  into 
the  outer  hall  to  witness  his  entrance. 

317 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

A  man  never  counts  for  very  much  at  his  own  wedding, 
but  the  position  of  a  defenceless  Moslem,  alone  in  a  crowd 
of  a  hundred  excited  women,  is  even  less  than  usual  to  be 
envied,  not  that  an  Arab  is  given,  as  a  rule,  to  self-conscious- 
ness, false  shame,  or  kindred  discomforts.  A  chair  at  the 
bottom  of  the  room  by  the  door  at  the  extreme  end  from  the 
bride's  exit  was  assigned  to  him,  the  women  not  privileged, 
either  as  relatives  or  professionals,  veiled  themselves  ;  a  few 
small  boys  clustered  about  him  ;  we  received  front  places 
in  the  crowd  for  ourselves,  and  presently  the  sound  of  music 
in  the  distant  room  announced  that  the  bride  was  on  the 
way.  She  appeared  as  the  centre  of  a  brilliant  illumination, 
her  attendants  carrying  large  flat  wax  candles,  each  having 
three  wicks  and  all  richly  painted  and  decorated. 

The  etiquette  of  the  occasion  requires  the  exhibition  of 
extreme  reluctance,  combined  with  all  the  allurements  of 
an  accomplished  beauty,  a  probable  survival  of  the  actual 
resistance  still  offered  by  the  women  of  certain  tribes  of  the 
Bedu,  to  what  is  practically  marriage  by  capture,  and  in 
which  the  throwing  of  stones  and  the  use  of  teeth  and  nails 
as  weapons  of  defence  are  as  much  a  part  of  the  etiquette 
of  the  occasion  as  the  carefully  rehearsed  performance  at 
present  under  consideration,  and  known  as  El  gelweh. 

As  the  bride  advanced  and  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
avenue  of  onlookers,  in  a  direct  line  with  her  husband,  still 
distant  some  thirty  or  thirty-five  feet,  we  were  able  to 
watch  her  attentively.  Her  eyes  were  still  closed,  her 
hands,  held  palm  outwards,  in  front  of  her  chest.  She  was 
surrounded  by  the  professional  assistants.  Two  white-robed 
old  women  supported  her  from  behind,  another  on  either 
hand  ;  the  gigantic  negress  moved  in  front  facing  the  bride, 
making  believe  to  encourage  and  cheer  her  progress,  but 
in  reality  contriving  now  and  then  to  drive  her  backwards, 
so  as  to  prolong  the  performance  to  the  very  utmost.  The 
singers  and  dancers  in  the  crowd  took  up  their  songs  from 
time  to  time  under  the  direction  of  the  negress.  The  women 

318 


THE    MOSLEM    WOMAN    IN    JERUSALEM 

on  either  side  of  her  carried  the  swords  (now  decorated  with 
flowers),  so  as  to  form  an  archway  over  her  head.  All  joined 
in  the  songs,  led  by  the  professionals,  and  accentuated  by 
much  clapping  of  hands  and  clicking  of  lips. 

"  Reel  and  sway  and  go  to  sleep,"  they  sang,  over  and 
over  again,  "  and  should  we  reproach  you,  say,  To-day  am 
I  yet  among  the  maidens." 

And  in  truth  she  reeled  and  swayed  to  their  hearts'  con- 
tent— a  thorough  mistress  of  the  etiquette  of  the  situation. 
She  staggered  from  side  to  side,  and  every  step  was  taken 
with  an  exaggerated  movement  of  the  hips,  which  was  much 
applauded,  although  in  truth  in  no  sense  beautiful  in  Occi- 
dental estimation.1  Perfect  as  was  her  acting,  one  sometimes 
lacked  the  key  to  the  part.  One  was  occasionally  at  a  loss 
to  know  whether  her  role  were  that  of  amorousness  or 
reluctance,  whether  she  were  playing  the  "  Bride  of  Lam- 
mermoor  "  or  the  heroine  of  the  "  Song  of  Songs." 

All  this  went  on  for,  perhaps,  half  an  hour,  by  which  time 
she  had  advanced  about  ten  feet.  Then  the  negress  indi- 
cated a  change  in  the  programme.  The  cymbals  and  tam- 
bourines were  clanged  with  added  energy,  the  singing  became 
louder  and  more  rapid,  the  negress  and  her  band  turned  in 
the  direction  of  the  bridegroom. 

"  Strain  your  eyes  and  see  her  !  "  they  sang  ;  "see  her,  and 
the  diamonds  .she  wears.  All  that  you  have  paid  for  her 
is  less  than  the  worth  of  her  finger-tips." 

The  bridegroom,  a  young  Arab,  of  two  or  three  and 
twenty,  dark  and  hirsute,  with,  like  so  many  of  his  race,  a 
cast  in  his  eyes,  had  hitherto  appeared  somewhat  bored  and 
indifferent.  Thus  urged,  however,  he  began  to  enter  into 
the  spirit  of  the  play,  and  at  a  signal  from  the  mistress  of  the 
ceremonies,  he  rose,  and  walked  briskly  down  the  room  to 
where  the  bride  had  now  halted,  still  swaying  from  side  to 
side.  He  lifted  her  veil,  and  there  was  a  pause  and  a  dead 
silence,  while  he,  presumably  for  the  first  time,  contem- 

1  It  is  one  of  the  beauties  specially  celebrated  in  Arabic  poetry. 

319 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

plated  her  charms.  I  had  an  uncharitable  desire  to  warn 
him  that  her  roses  were  ours,  and  that  to-morrow  the  bril- 
liant complexion  would  have  departed,  but  he  showed  no 
particular  enthusiasm,  not  even  the  shyness  which,  we  were 
told,  it  was  customary  to  exhibit ;  put  down  the  veil  with 
the  air  of  wrapping  up  a  recent  purchase,  and  returned  to  his 
seat. 

From  this  time  the  proceedings,  though  not  more  rapid, 
were  somewhat  more  lively.  It  seemed  to  be  proper  to 
encourage  the  bride  with  extravagant  compliments,  whether 
to  stimulate  the  ardours  of  the  too  business-like  groom,  or 
to  console  the  lady,  we  could  not  decide. 

Every  verse  was  sung  again  and  again  with  occasional 
slight  variations  improvized  by  the  negress. 

You  are  welcome,  you  are  twice  welcome, 
God  spare  the  bridegroom  who  bought  you ; 
And  since  he  has  brought  you  here, 
No  evil  shall  befall  you. 

From  this  consoling  general  sentiment  we  advanced  to 
personalities — 

You  are  a  first-fruit  like  the  cucumber  of  October, 

Many  are  the  girls  of  our  city,  but  for  birth  and  breeding  have 

we  sought  you. 

Your  waist  is  so  thin  that  it  won't  feed  the  hungry  ant, 
You  are  so  good  that  you  are  obedient  to  your  mother-in-law  ; 
You  are  a  box  of  spices  that  has  filled  the  air  with  balm. 

We  were  getting  metaphysical,  and  the  recollection  that 
she  had  been  well  saturated  with  Eau-de-Cologne  de  Gelle 
Freres  was,  I  was  aware,  a  materialistic  irrelevance. 

The  irrepressible  negress  again  came  forward,  the  music 
was  stopped,  and  she  began  a  performance  on  her  own 
account.  The  bride's  charms  and  accomplishments  were  to 
be  shown  off — a  coffee  cup  was  put  into  her  hand,  and,  with 
•her  eyes  still  closed,  she  went  through  the  pantomime  of 
making  coffee  ;  a  needle — which  it  is  important  should  be 

320 


THE    MOSLEM    WOMAN   IN   JERUSALEM 

threaded  with  green  silk — was  given  to  her,  and  she  sewed 
an  invisible  seam  ;  an  egg,  seeds,  leaves  in  turn,  served  some 
concerted  purpose,  always  under  the  direction  of  the  negress. 
Then,  as  in  the  course  of  the  last  hour  she  had  arrived 
within  a  dozen  feet  of  the  always  seated  bridegroom — who, 
it  may  be  mentioned,  had  been  exceedingly  attentive  to  the 
later  developments — yet  another  act  of  the  play  was  entered 
upon. 

With  much  gesticulation,  apparently  intended  to  convey 
to  the  unhappy  man  that  his  long-suffering  patience  must 
endure  yet  longer,  the  procession  was  stopped,  and  with 
shrieks  of  laughter  and  much  mysterious  pantomime,  the 
negress,  aided  by  the  Sheikhat,  proceeded  to  manipulate  the 
bride's  appearance.  We  held  our  breath  as  she  stuck 
additional  flowers  into  the  coiffure  we  had  so  carefully 
arranged,  turned  and  twisted  the  bride's  veil,  directed  her 
how  to  hold  her  hands,  how  to  make  certain  gestures,  the  pur- 
port of  which  was  to  us  not  obvious ;  drew  attention  to  the 
fashion  of  bending  the  hips,  which  seemed  to  us  so  unsightly, 
and,  finally,  as  a  tour  de  force,  stuck  scraps  of  fern  leaves 
all  over  her  face  and  invited  us  to  admire  "  the  Bedu," 
from  which  we  gathered  that  the  patches  represented 
tattooing.  The  poor  girl  looked  so  utterly  exhausted  that 
at  every  moment  we  feared  that  the  play  would  become 
real,  and  she  would  faint  in  good  earnest.  However,  the 
longest  day  comes  to  an  end,  and  in  another  five  minutes, 
with  eyes  open  and  hands  at  rest,  she  was  seated  by  the  bride- 
groom's side.  The  singers  and  musicians  burst  out  anew, 
relatives  pressed  forward  to  congratulate,  and  after  a  few 
minutes  of  reception  of  friends  the  bridegroom  took  the 
exhausted  damsel  by  the  arm,  and,  at  a  pace  very  different 
from  that  hitherto  adopted,  she  was  re-conducted  down  the 
room  ;  the  Sheikhat  pressed  forward  to  open  the  door  of  the 
nuptial  apartment,  our  hostess  and  some  half-dozen  ladies 
entered  with  them,  and  we  saw  them  no  more,  though  it  is 
only  just  to  say  that  such  is  the  inexhaustible  hospitality  of 

321  Y 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

such  occasions,  that  we  were  invited  to  pursue  our  investi- 
gations farther,  and  were  confidently  assured  that  fellow- 
guests  would  not  be  lacking.  The  pschycologist  is  avowedly 
merciless,  but  even  in  the  cause  of  science  one  must  draw 
the  line  somewhere,  and  we  felt  that  the  poor  girl  should  be 
allowed  at  least  her  first  domestic  meal  with  peace,  if  per- 
haps not  with  appetite. 

The  gaiety  of  the  negress  was  inextinguishable,  although, 
we  learnt  casually,  she  had  but  a  few  days  before  buried  her 
second  husband,  a  white  man  ! 

As  we  had  understood  that  a  ceremonial  akin  to  the  old 
English  custom  of  "  throwing  the  stocking  "  was  among 
those  about  to  occur  behind  the  closed  doors,  and  as  the 
presence  of  a  handsome  woman  is  always  considered  pro- 
pitious on  such  occasions,  we  had  been  glad  to  observe  that 
our  beautiful  hostess  had  remained  with  her  charge,  and  it 
was  probably  in  allusion  to  the  superstition  involved  that 
the  ugly  negress  made  repeated  feints  of  seeking  entrance, 
to  be  dragged  away  with  shrieks  and  laughter  by  the  rela- 
tives present. 

We  were  glad  to  escape,  and  take  our  final  coffee  quietly  in 
the  room  of  one  of  the  sisters-in-law,  where  I  gladly  noted 
we  were  shortly  joined  by  our  hostess  and  the  other  near 
relatives,  and  I  ventured  to  express  sympathy  with  the 
fatigue  involved  in  such  continuity  of  attention  as  a  peri- 
phrasis for  congratulating  the  happy  pair  on  being  left  alone 
at  last !  It  was  a  vain  hope — a  further  reception  was  ex- 
pected of  them,  and  no  guest  would  think  of  repose  that  night 
further  than  could  be  snatched  upon  the  floor,  where,  indeed, 
many  were  stretched,  anyhow  and  anywhere,  wrapped  in 
silk  coverlets  ! 

Truly  Oriental  magnificence  and  luxury  do  not  take  into 
account  the  humble  joys  of  occasional  solitude  ! 


322 


CHAPTER  XXI 
CHRISTIAN  WOMEN  IN   JERUSALEM 

TRAINING — OCCUPATIONS — COMPARISONS  BETWEEN  MOSLEM 
AND  CHRISTIAN  WOMEN — CHRISTIANS  OF  THE  WORKING 
CLASS — MANNERS — HOSPITALITY — NOTABLE  WOMEN- 
BENEFACTRESSES 

IT  is  but  natural  that  woman,  numerically  the  larger 
half  of  creation,  should  have  figured  considerably  in 
these  pages,  but,  although  we  have  looked  at  her  from  the 
Moslem  and  from  the  Jewish  point  of  view,  except  incident- 
ally as  a  missionary  or  as  a  Sister  of  Mercy,  Latin  or  German, 
we  have  seen  less  of  her  from  the  Christian  standpoint, 
possibly,  perhaps,  because  the  outlook  is  not  wholly 
encouraging. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  so-called  Protestant  element 
of  Jerusalem  is  German,  and  the  German  girls  in  the  indus- 
trious and  orderly  little  German  colony  have  much  the 
same  prospects  and  objects  in  life  as  German  girls  else- 
where. Of  French  there  are  not  a  dozen,  and  the  Levantiners, 
who  account  themselves  such,  are,  like  the  English  of  the 
same  type,  for  all  purposes  of  psychological  inquiry,  natives. 
The  Convents  and  the  German  Deaconesses  train  large 
numbers  of  girls  in  practical  domestic  work  and  useful  house- 
hold industries.  Of  these  a  fair  number  themselves  take 
up  the  religious  life,  and  some  are  sent  as  teachers  to  other 
institutions,  while  many  marry — for  the  Arab  well  knows 
how  to  appreciate  the  money-getting  and  money-saving 
results  of  a  useful  training.  It  is  alleged  that  those  brought 

323 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

up  in  the  English  schools  often  become  school-mistresses. 
I  never  yet  heard  of  any  one  employing  them  as  servants, 
and,  indeed,  have  never  met  a  domestic  servant  who  was  not 
Latin,  Greek,  German,  or  Armenian.  Jewish  indoor  servants 
are  obviously  inconvenient,  on  account  of  ceremonial 
differences,  about  which,  in  Jerusalem,  they  are  very  strict ; 
and  a  Moslem  townswoman  cannot  take  service  at  all 
except  in  a  harem,  while  the  fellaheen  women  are  mainly 
employed  in  agriculture,  sometimes  as  porters,  not  to  say 
beasts  of  burden,  sometimes  as  driving,  or  even,  yoked  with 
a  donkey,  as  drawing  the  plough.  A  friend  tells  me  that 
on  a  certain  occasion  he  saw  a  man  lamenting  the  death  of 
his  mule,  which  had  fallen  by  the  wayside.  His  wife  stood 
meekly  afar,  not  venturing  even  to  proffer  sympathy. 
After  a  time  she  was  beckoned  up,  the  dead  animal  unloaded, 
and  the  burthen  handed  over  to  her.  She  was  about  to  set 
off,  thus  weighted,  when,  with  a  curse  on  her  idleness,  she 
was  once  more  recalled,  and  the  pack-saddle  added  to  her 
encumbrances. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  such  a  husband,  woman  has 
a  definite  value,  which  is  duly  considered  at  the  time  of 
purchase — a  wife  being  valued  under  such  conditions  as  so 
much  muscle  and  endurance,  just  as,  in  other  countries, 
she  may  be  considered  as  equivalent  to  so  much  money, 
business  connexion,  social  position,  or  other  advantage. 
Whether  the  position,  Moslem  or  Christian,  of  beast  of 
burden  for  the  farm  be  really  inferior  to  that  among  the 
wealthier  Oriental  households,  of  cow  for  the  nursery,  is 
purely  a  matter  of  individual  fancy. 

One  is,  of  course,  thankful  that  there  should  be  some 
12,000  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  of  whom  some  1,400  are 
Protestants,  mostly  German,  and  one  earnestly  wishes  new 
life  to  the  mission-fields — such  life,  for  example,  as  the 
Americans  and  the  Scotch  Medical  Mission  have  introduced 
in  Syria,  the  Quakers  in  the  Lebanon,  and  the  Germans  in 
their  many  Christian  colonies  all  over  Palestine  and  Syria  ; 

324 


but  when  it  comes  to  practical  relations  with  the  native, 
and  speaking  solely  from  the  social  point  of  view,  one  is 
bound  to  acknowledge  that  in  the  Holy  City  (of  course,  with 
certain  welcome  exceptions)  the  native  Christian  is  as 
inferior  to  the  Moslem  as  is  the  Hebrew  Christian  to  the 
unadulterated  Jew. 

This  is  especially  true  in  reference  to  the  wealthier  classes, 
with  whom  one  comes  into  social  relation  in  hotels,  or 
business  relation  in  shops  and  elsewhere.  The  Moslem 
effendi,  in  spotless  turban  and  kumbaz,  dazzling  linen,  silks 
and  satins  which  invite  to  dreams  of  luxurious  tea-gowns, 
or  even,  on  occasions  of  less  ceremony,  in  the  dignified 
jubr,  at  least  looks  like  a  gentleman,  and  as  such  contrasts 
effectively  with  the  Christian,  who  in  the  morning  probably 
wears  frock-coats  of  all  colours  and  preternatural  length, 
stiff  collars  and  cuffs  but  poorly  adapted  to  a  hot  climate, 
gem  rings,  yellow  shoes,  a  tartan  necktie,  and  a  scarlet 
tarboosh.  The  Moslem's  silent  contemplation  of  his 
narghille  (water-pipe)  may  not  be  edifying,  but  it  does 
not  violate  the  unities  and  irritate  one's  senses  like  the 
smell  of  arak  and  the  litter  of  cigarettes.  The  Moslem  is 
always  courteous,  generally  silent,  and  one  readily  pardons 
—but  too  sympathetically,  perhaps — his  cat-like  air  of 
supercilious  indifference.  The  Christian  may  be  courteous, 
is  seldom  silent,  and  is  frankly  inquisitive. 

One  would  like  to  know  how  far  the  contrast  might  hold 
good  if  one  had  the  opportunity  of  pursuing  it  among  the 
women  in  really  intimate  relations  in  their  own  homes  ;  as 
perhaps  no  cultured  woman,  unless  it  be  Lady  Burton  and 
the  ladies  of  the  American  Colony  in  Jerusalem,  have  ever 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  permitted  to  do.  The  Moslem 
woman  is  hospitable  and  courteous,  and  if  merely  a  part  of 
the  nursery  furniture,  at  least  of  good  quality  as  such, 
well  groomed,  well  dressed,  pleasing  to  the  eye,  a  little 
wistful  perhaps,  pathetic  with  the  pathos  of  an  intelligent 
caged  animal.  But  she  is  not  a  dowdy  dressed  like  a  fashion- 

325 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

plate,  such  as  is  to  be  seen  in  its  perfection  at  Beirut,  and  in 
its  degree  at  all  the  summer  hotels  in  the  country.  The 
Moslem  religion  enforces  ablution,  and,  so  far  as  the  women 
are  concerned,  a  decent  reserve,  therefore  we  owe  it  to  the 
Christians  only  that  the  keepers  of  native  hotels,  however 
luxurious  and  expensive,  should  fail  to  understand  why  the 
members  of  one  party  should  not  be  content  to  occupy  a 
single  bedroom,  irrespective  of  age,  sex,  and  relation.  We 
have  personally  established  the  contemporary  occupation 
of  one  room  by  father,  mother,  three  children,  two  elderly 
relatives,  and  two  female  servants.  It  is  true  there  were 
four  beds.  On  another  occasion  a  husband,  wife,  brother- 
in-law,  and  female  cousin,  to  whom  had  been  assigned 
three  rooms,  in  a  Latin  hospice,  abandoned  two  of  them  upon 
some  trifling  pretext,  and  the  Brother  in  charge  told  us 
that  the  frequent  occasion  for  remonstrance  against  similar 
indifference  to  common  decency  was  the  painful  side  of  his 
pleasure  in  dispensing  hospitality. 

The  Christians  of  the  working  classes  are  often  Latin  and 
Armenian,  but  more  largely  Greeks  in  the  towns,  and 
Maronites  in  the  Lebanon.  There  is  one  entire  Bedawy 
tribe  of  Christians  (Latin)  and  some  few  Christian  villages 
in  the  Jerusalem  district,  many  of  them  of  very  unsavoury 
reputation.  The  Christian  native  women  one  meets  in  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem  are  necessarily  of  the  lower  classes,  or 
they  would  not  be  there — a  fact  which  would  explain  the 
extreme  roughness  of  their  manners,  were  it  not  that  many 
times  a  poor  fellah  woman  or  a  rough,  good-natured  girl 
from  Siloam  or  Lifta  (Moslem  villages)  has  protected  us 
against  the  frank  egotism  of  the  superior  Christian  from 
Bethlehem,  who  sweeps  before  her  anything  which  impedes 
the  progress  of  her  unaccountable  bulk.  The  Moslem,  man 
or  woman,  may  be  indifferent,  even  supercilious,  but  is  never 
impertinent  and  never  servile.  The  native  Christian,  here 
as  elsewhere,  is  what  other  Christians  have  made  him, 
whether  the  other  Christian  be  the  teacher  working  in  the 

320 


CHRISTIAN   WOMEN    IN    JERUSALEM 

interest  of  religious  statistics,  or  merely  the  tourist  in  the 
interest  of  his  own  passing  convenience  or  amusement. 

The  congregations  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in  Jerusalem 
belong  almost  exclusively  to  the  genteel  classes,  and  are 
Europeans,  Levantiners,  and  a  few  Syrian  Christians,  all 
in  their  Sunday  clothes,  generally  of  European  cut ;  the 
younger  men  and  women  having  an  increasing  tendency  to 
hats,  which,  as  opposed  to  the  veil  and  tarbush,  the  last 
mark  of  Oriental  distinction,  are,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  picturesque,  much  to  be  regretted. 

In  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Armenian  Churches  the  poor 
are  always  with  us,  every  day  and  at  all  hours,  not  neces- 
sarily from  motives  of  piety,  as  we  of  the  West  understand  it. 
Indeed,  especially  among  the  women,  one  is  struck  alike 
by  the  earnestness  and  by  the  frank  indifference  of  the 
worshippers.  Dean  Church l  thus  expresses  the  fact. 
"  The  sort  of  orderly  inattention  and  stealthy  gossip  that 
goes  on  with  us,  you  never  see  here.  They  are  either 
attending  in  earnest  or  not  pretending  to  attend  at  all, 
and  they  seem  to  pass  abruptly,  without  any  hesitation  or 
concealment,  from  devotion  to  mutual  salutation  and 
smiles."  Brightman's  remarks  on  the  same  point  have 
often  recurred  to  us  at  sight  of  the  entire  area  of  a  large 
Oriental  Church  covered  on  the  one  side  with  kneeling 
figures  in  white  sheets,  on  the  other  with  forms,  equally 
devout  in  attitude,  covered  with  striped  kumbaz  or  brown 
abbaye,  the  men  and  women,  it  should  be  observed,  mutually 
ignoring  each  other's  presence.  "  If  it  seems  to  one  that  in 
the  East  personal  edification  is  too  much  lost  sight  of,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  with  us  the  idea  of  public  worship 
is  equally  lost  sight  of  in  the  pursuit  of  individual  edifi- 
cation." 2 

I  once   ventured   to  remark   upon   the   conduct   of   the 
native  women  to  a  Pere  cure  in  a  Syrian  town  ;  upon  the 

1  Life  and  Letters,  p.  29. 

2  Brightman,  op.  cit.  p.  24. 

327 


way  in  which  they  alternate  their  prayers,  said  aloud,  to 
the  disturbance  of  their  neighbours,  with  conversation, 
equally  frank  and  unrestrained,  with  those  about  them  ; 
upon  their  custom  of  bringing  wailing  infants,  whom  no 
one  attempts  to  pacify,  and  older  children,  who  wander 
about  unrebuked.  "  What  can  we  do  ?"  he  replied.  "  Of 
reverence,  as  we  understand  it,  they  know  nothing,  and  there 
is  a  certain  piety  in  their  very  familiarity.  If  we  speak  to 
them,  they  say,  Are  we  not  at  home  ?  Is  not  this  our 
Father's  house  ?  Le  bon  Dieu  tiest  pas  mechant  comme 
ceux  qui  s'en  plaignent  f  " 

Bundled  up  in  such  a  quantity  of  clothes  that  each  native 
woman  requires  the  space  of  two  or  three  Europeans,  and 
possessed,  moreover,  of  the  extraordinary  development  of 
hip  consequent  on  many  generations  of  perpetual  squatting, 
the  native  woman  at  worship  takes  possession  of  any  place 
it  may  occur  to  her  to  covet  by  the  simple  process  of  placing 
herself  immediately  in  front  of  the  person  occupying  it,  and 
proceeding  to  kneel  down  ;  upon  which,  time  being  the 
condition  of  two  bodies  in  the  same  space,  and  space  the 
relation  of  two  bodies  in  the  same  time,  one  has  no  choice 
but  to  seek  the  conditions  of  life  elsewhere.  At  Bethlehem, 
where  the  native  woman,  devotionally  inclined,  achieves  her 
ends  by  sheer  bulk  and  persistence,  like  the  camel,  whose 
manners  she  imitates,  grumbling  included,  we  have  some- 
times had  to  remove  ourselves  four  or  five  times  during  a 
single  Mass.  On  profane  occasions  the  Christian  villager 
may  be,  and  often  is,  courteous  and  agreeable,  especially  in 
her  own  house,  but  in  church  there  seems  to  be  a  received 
tradition  that  the  laws  of  ordinary  politeness  are  temporarily 
suspended. 

There  is  yet  another  view  of  woman  which  is  somewhat 
forced  upon  one's  notice  in  a  country  in  which  the  monastic 
life  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  social  insti- 
tutions. 

Many  of  us  have  our  own  views  as  to  the  advantages  of 

328 


CHRISTIAN   WOMEN   IN   JERUSALEM 

the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  and  its  utility  from  the  point  of 
view  of  social  relations,  even  apart  from  those,  more  directly, 
of  religion  ;  but  most,  I  think,  would  consider  its  enforce- 
ment as  one  of  the  personal  sacrifices  necessary  to  the 
ascetic  life — that  a  priest  renounces  marriage  as  he  renounces 
property,  as  a  thing  good,  it  may  be,  in  itself,  though  to  be 
avoided  under  certain  circumstances — women  and  wealth 
alike  being  of  the  nature  of  distraction,  not,  one  would  fain 
hope,  necessarily  of  evil. 

The  extreme  hospitality  and  courtesy  which  the  religious 
Orders  of  Jerusalem  of  all  creeds  are  ever  ready  to  show  to 
guests  of  either  sex  and  every  nationality  would  suggest 
that  their  outlook  was  somewhat  exaggerated  by  Charles 
Kingsley  when  he  makes  the  Abbot  in  Hypatia  express  his 
views  as  to  what  is  conventionally  known  as  the  "  gentler 
sex." 

"  Have  I  not  bidden  you  never  to  look  on  the  face  of 
women  ?  Are  they  not  the  firstfruits  of  the  devil,  the 
authors  of  all  evil,  the  subtlest  of  all  Satan's  snares  ?  Are 
they  not  accursed  for  ever  for  the  deceit  of  their  first  mother, 
by  whom  sin  entered  into  the  world  ?  A  woman  first 
opened  the  gates  of  hell,  and  until  this  day  they  are  all 
portresses  thereof." 

The  perpetuation  of  such  an  attitude  would  indeed,  in 
this  country,  show  the  basest  ingratitude,  for  at  every 
step  of  the  advance  of  the  Christian  faith  some  woman  has 
stood  by  with  helping  hand.  It  is  unnecessary  to  recall 
those  holy  women  "  last  at  the  Cross  and  earliest  at  the 
grave,"  but  one  may  well  be  reminded  that  almost  the 
first  evidence  we  have  on  the  subject  of  the  traditional 
sites  is  that  of  Sylvia  of  Aquitaine,1  whose  narrative  of  her 
visit  in  385  is  second  only  in  interest  to  that  of  the  Bordeaux 
pilgrim.  Were  not  Paula  and  Eustochia  the  devout  fol- 


1  This  interesting  document  was  found  in  1883  by  Signor  Gamur- 
rini,  librarian  at  Arezzo  in  Tuscany. 

329 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

lowers   of  S.   Jerome,1   with   their  contemporary  Melania 
(c.  361)  the  mothers  of  all  the  pilgrims  of  after  ages  ? 

The  first  congregation  of  corporal  works  of  mercy  in 
Jerusalem  was  probably  that  of  the  Knights  of  S.  John, 
known  variously  as  Knights  Hospitallers,  Knights  of  the 
Cross,  of  Rhodes,  and  of  Malta — still  represented  at  Tantour,2 
between  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem,  and  universally 
respected  for  their  charity  and  surgical  skill.  It  was 
founded  by  one  Gerard,  a  Crusader,  about  1099,  and  very 
shortly  after  was  followed  by  its  modest  counterpart, 
founded  for  Dames  Hospitalieres  by  a  Roman  lady  named 
Agnes. 

Was  not  Mary  of  Portugal,  a  tertiary  of  the  Order  of 
S.  Francis  and  a  pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  one  of  the 
earliest  martyrs  to  the  faith,  attached  to  a  cross  and  burnt 
in  the  court  of  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection  ?  3  Have 
we  not,  for  our  example,  the  traditions  of  Pelagia,  and  of 
Mary  of  Egypt,  who  here,  in  the  Holy  City,  showed  public 
sorrow  for  a  sinful  life,  like  Mary  Magdalene  of  old  ? 

Even  in  pre-crusading  times  woman  played  her  part  in 
the  Holy  Land.  "  Christian  Jerusalem  has  known  three 
principal  periods  of  prosperity,  incarnated  in  three  glorious 

1  Nevertheless,  at  the  risk  of  spoiling  our  argument  as  to  the  value 
of  the  example  of  woman,  I  cannot  resist  reference  to  the  inter- 
relations of  these  ladies  from  the  standpoint   of  an  entertaining 
human  document.     S.  Jerome,  the  confessor  of  Paula  and  Eustochia, 
formerly  the  close  friend  of  Rufinus  the  confessor  of  Melania,  but 
latterly  separated  from  him  on  the  ground  of  some  religious  differences, 
made  use  of  his  disciples  as  a  weapon  of  offence,  pointing  out  the  fact, 
of  which  it  is  conceivable  they  were  not  unconscious,  that  whereas 
they  were  the  daughters  of  the  Scipios,  Melania  was  merely  a  wealthy 
parvenu.     He  condescends  to  even  further  personalities,  and  points 
out  that  the  word  "  Melania  "  means  black,  and  that  '  her  name  was 
the  living  image  of  her  soul.'  "     (Thierry,  IS  Emigration  Romaine  en 
Terre   Sainte. ) 

2  Protestant  representatives  of  the  same  rule  are  also  to  be  found 
in  the  German  Hospice  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  English 
Hospital  for  Ophthalmia  on  the  Bethlehem  road. 

3  Quaresimiis,  vol.  ii.  chap.  vi. 

330 


CHRISTIAN   WOMEN   IN   JERUSALEM 

names,  those  of  Helena,  Eudocia,  and  Justinian.  It  is, 
thanks  to  the  liberality  of  these  powerful  benefactors  (of 
whom  two  were  women)  that  the  Holy  City,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries  respectively, 
was  covered  with  great  and  glorious  monuments  "  (Official 
Guide  of  the  French  Pilgrims  to  Jerusalem,  p.  128).  Of 
Helena,  the  Mother  of  Constantine,  to  whose  piety 
and  liberality  are  attributed  the  foundation  not  only  of  the 
Churches  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  of  Bethlehem,  but  a 
great  number  of  shrines  only  second  in  importance  in  all 
parts  of  Palestine,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.  Eudocia, 
of  whom  it  is  related  that,  at  a  time  of  much  discussion  in 
the  Church,  she  was  herself  restored  to  orthodoxy,  is  further 
remembered  as  the  foundress  of  churches,  hospitals,  and 
almshouses.  It  is  said  also  that  she  rebuilt  the  walls  of 
the  Holy  City,  and  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  S.  Stephen, 
which  she  had  herself  erected  on  the  site  of  his  martyrdom. 
According  to  some,  she  beautified  the  Church  of  Bethlehem, 
and  erected  the  Church  of  the  Grotto  of  Gethsemane. 

The  Benedictines  owe  the  importance  of  one  of  their 
earliest  edifices  to  Arda,  the  wife  of  Baldwin  I.  The 
Sanctuary  of  S.  Anne,  said  to  be  the  birthplace  of  Our  Lady, 
originally  built  and  served  by  the  hermits  of  Mount  Carmel, 
was  restored  by  Helena  and  again  by  Justinian,  when  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Latins.  Saewulf  (1103) 
describes  it  as  served  by  a  few  poor  nuns,  but  when  Arda 
took  the  veil  it  became  a  rich  Abbey,  and  was  still  further 
established  under  Judith  (or  Ivette),  the  daughter  of 
Baldwin  II,  about  1144.  This  same  princess  afterwards 
organized  another  convent  at  Bethany,  out  of  funds  pro- 
vided by  Melisande,  the  wife  of  Fulk,  who,  upon  her  death, 
in  1161,  was  buried  in  the  Benedictine  Church  of  the  Tomb 
of  Our  Lady,  the  spot  being  still  shown. 

The  Franciscans  arrived  in  Jerusalem,  according  to 
tradition,  in  1219,  and  occupied  a  small  convent  on  Mount 
Sion,  more  or  less  by  grace  of  the  Canons  Regular  of  S. 

331 


Augustine.  It  was  not  till  1333,  however,  that  they  ob- 
tained anything  like  a  firm  footing,  when,  thanks  largely  to 
Sancha,  wife  of  Robert  of  Sicily,  they  were  presented  with 
a  site  bought  from  the  Sultan  for  seventeen  millions  of  gold 
ducats,  and  handed  over  to  the  Pope,  on  condition  that  the 
Franciscans  should  be  guardians  in  perpetuity  of  the 
Coenaculum,  the  first  of  the  many  Holy  Places  associated 
with  their  Order.  It  was  at  this  time  also,  and  by  the  same 
intercession,  that  they  obtained  possession  of  the  so-called 
Chapel  of  the  Apparition  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The 
Pope,  Clement  VI,  accorded  the  desired  Bull,  which  was 
addressed  to  the  queen  herself  as  Nuper  carissimi  in  Christo, 
given  at  Avignon,  November  21, 1342.  They  proceeded  to 
build  a  church  on  the  spot  with  some  material  of  ruined 
churches  already  at  hand.  Some  ten  years  later  Sophia 
of  Archangel,  a  rich  Florentine  lady,  bought  the  ground 
surrounding  their  convent,  and  built  the  first  establishment 
for  pilgrims  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Franciscans,  which 
included  also  a  hospital,  placed  by  Urban  VI,  in  1365,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  S.  Martin  and  of  S.  Claire.  It 
was,  moreover,  a  woman,  the  Marquise  de  Nicolay,  who,  in 
1872,  presented  to  the  Franciscans  the  site  recognized  by 
Papal  authority  as  that  of  the  Emmaus  of  S.  Luke,  upon 
which  a  convent  and  an  oratory  were  first  built,  and 
where,  in  1902-3,  in  consequence  of  further  excavations 
and  the  discovery  of  a  Crusading  church,  alleged  to  enclose 
the  house  of  Cleophas,  a  handsome  church  was  erected  on 
the  old  foundations.  Thus,  the  Franciscans  owe,  in  some 
degree,  to  women  their  first  convent,  church,  hospice, 
hospital,  the  only  chapel  in  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection 
to  which  they  have  an  exclusive  right,  the  first  Papal  Bull 
in  their  favour  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  one  of  their  latest 
and  most  treasured  sites. 

Another  possible  site  of  the  village  of  Emmaus,  and  of 
the  home  of  Cleophas,  known  as  Amwas  Nicopolis,  was 
also  bought  and  presented  to  the  Latins  (now  in  the  hands 

332 


CHRISTIAN   WOMEN   IN   JERUSALEM 

of  the  Trappists)  by  a  woman,  Mile,  de  Saint  Cricq 
Dartigaux,  who  bore  the  cost  of  considerable  research  in 
1880  by  the  architect  Guillemot. 

To  the  Princesse  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne  (d.  1891)  we  owe 
the  purchase  and  preservation  of  the  Church  of  the  Pater, 
said  to  be  the  site  where  the  disciples  received  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  The  Scandinavian  pilgrims  record  its  existence, 
and  the  Danish  bishop  Sweyn  and  his  brother  were  buried 
there  about  1152.  The  Princess  established  the  Carmelites 
in  the  restored  Convent  in  1876. 

When  Chosroes  II  had  accomplished  his  work  of  destruc- 
tion, it  was  his  wife,  a  Christian,  and  the  sister  of  Maurice, 
Emperor  of  Constantinople,  whose  intervention  made  it 
possible  to  Modestus,  then  a  monk  in  the  Convent  of  S. 
Theodosius,  to  reconstruct  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection 
within  the  short  space  of  fifteen  years.  When  Hakem  had 
ordered  the  Governor  of  Ramleh,  near  Jerusalem,  to  destroy 
all  Christian  churches,  it  was  his  mother,  Mary,  the  sister 
of  the  patriarchs  of  Jerusalem  and  of  Alexandria,  who 
obtained  for  the  Christians  the  privileges  they  had  lost, 
and  permission  to  rebuild. 

The  time  would  fail  us  to  tell  of  many  other  benefactresses 
to  the  Holy  City  ;  of  gifts  to  the  Benedictines  l  made  by 
the  Viscomtesse  Pisellus,  confirmed  by  Baldwin  I  (1114)  ; 
of  the  gifts  of  orchards  and  gardens  by  Papia,  the  wife  of 
Eustache  Grenier  ;  of  lands  given  by  Cecilia,  "  sister  of  the 
King  of  Jerusalem,"  1126  (probably  Baldwin  II),  by  Adeliza, 
his  daughter,  1134,  of  Hodierne,  wife  of  Helie  of  Tyre,  1140, 
a  practical  woman,  whose  offering  includes  a  wood,  a  mill, 
and  certain  villas.  In  1176  one  Gilbertus,  with  Lizina  his 
wife,  and  Anne  his  sister,  sold  property  at  Ravenna  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Benedictine  Abbey  at  Jerusalem  ;  in  1187 
Amaury,  Viscount  of  Nagreouse,  with  the  consent  of  his 
wife,  Theophania,  ended  a  difference  with  the  Abbey  on  the 
subject  of  boundaries,  probably  a  greater  sacrifice  than  the 

1  See  Charters  published  in  the  Revue  de  L'Orient  Lutin,  vol.  vii.  1-2. 

333 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

gift  of  lands.  In  1196  the  Empress  Constance,  Queen  of 
Sicily,  signed  a  deed  approving  of  privileges  granted  in 
Jerusalem  by  her  husband,  Henri  VI.  In  1198  Amaury  IX, 
King  of  Jerusalem,  and  his  wife  Isabel,  gave  "  hore  mil 
unum  molendinum  equorum  "  in  the  town  of  Acre. 

There  seem  to  have  been  some  large-souled  women  in 
those  days,  and  one  is  glad  to  find,  now  and  then,  tokens 
that  their  value  was  appreciated.  The  so-called  Tombs  of 
the  Kings,  for  example,  which  are  among  the  most  inter- 
esting remains  in  Jerusalem,  have  no  concern  with  those 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  so  difficult  to  remember,  who 
slept  with  their  fathers,  in  consequence  of  which  somebody 
else  reigned  in  their  stead,  but  are  the  Tombs  of  Queens, 
chief  among  whom  was  Helena  of  Adiabene,  in  Kurdistan, 
who  was  converted  to  Judaism,  and  arriving,  says  tradition, 
in  Jerusalem  about  the  year  44  A. D.,  at  the  time  of  the  famine 
prophesied  by  Agabus,  sent  to  Egypt  for  grain  and  to 
Cyprus  for  figs,  and  thus  merited  the  beautiful  sarcophagus 
alleged  to  belong  to  her.1  Various  other  persons  of  quality 
were  buried  around  her,  the  only  one  whose  name  we 
know  being  a  certain  Princess  Sarah,  though,  as  her  son 
Izatis  is  reported  to  have  had  twenty-four  daughters 
(in  addition  to  twenty-four  sons),  we  may  assume  that 
she  lies  among  her  own  kindred. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  only  two  examples 
remaining  intact  of  sepulchres  guarded  by  the  rolling  stone, 
so  interesting  to  all  Christians,  are  this,  of  Helena,  and 
another,  perhaps  even  more  perfect,  though  less  visited,  of 
another  woman  of  distinction,  Mariamne,  the  wife  of  Herod. 
Another  interesting  tomb,  practically  ignored  of  tourists, 
is  that  of  "  Chouchangane,  mother  of  Ardavan,"  to  whom 

1  The  Arabic  author,  Mejr  ed  din,  A.D.  1391,  speaks  of  a  certain 
Dame  Tonshok,  whom  he  describes  as  the  munificent  Queen 
Dowager  of  Adiabene,  who  endowed  the  soup-kitchen  for  the  poor 
which  is  still  kept  up  in  Jerusalem  by  Moslems,  who  may  be  seen 
daily  dispensing  help  to  the  needy,  irrespective  of  creed. 

334 


CHRISTIAN   WOMEN    IN   JERUSALEM 

was  awarded,  let  us  hope  by  filial  piety,  a  beautiful  mosaic 
decoration,  probably  of  the  fifth  century,  consisting  of 
bunches  of  grapes,  fishes,  a  cock  and  a  lamb,  specimens 
valuable  to  the  student  of  early  religious  symbolism.  Per- 
haps not  less  useful  to  posterity  was  a  certain  Roman  lady, 
Lucilia  Pampilia,  whose  ex  voto  offering  of  a  marble  foot, 
obviously  of  the  time  of  Adrian,  has  earned  the  gratitude 
of  archaeologists  for  enabling  them  to  restore  the  character 
for  antiquity  to  the  so-called  Pool  of  Bethesda,  which, 
mentioned  by  the  Bordeaux  pilgrims  (in  333),  by  Cyril  of 
Jerusalem  (d.  386),  and  described  by  Eusebius  and  S. 
Jerome,  had  been  lost  sight  of  after  the  fourteenth  century 
till  the  discovery  mentioned  encouraged  Mauss,  the  French 
archaeologist,  to  further  researches,  with  the  result  of 
discovering  a  piscina  of  undisputed  antiquity,  certainly  of 
earlier  date  than  the  ecclesiastical  remains  near  by  dedicated 
to  S.  Mary  and  to  S.  Anne,  the  first  of  which  was  first  men- 
tioned in  530  by  Theodosius.  Six  metres  below  the  soil  a 
curious  mural  painting  was  discovered,  probably  repre- 
senting the  miracle  at  the  Pool. 


335 


CHAPTER  XXII 
BIRD  AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

ALLEGED  CRUELTY  IN  JERUSALEM — THE  CAMEL,  CAT,  DOG, 
HORSE,  Ass,  WILD  ANIMALS — THE  GAZELLE,  JERBOA, 
HYENA,  JACKAL,  CONEY — MAR  SABA — SPORT — THE 
PARTRIDGE,  HARE,  Fox — WILD  BIRDS — IN  THE  TEMPLE 
COURTS — STORKS,  SPARROW,  SWALLOW — THE  LIZARDS 

I  HAVE  already  ventured  to  suggest  that  the  cruelty 
of  the  Orientals  is,  in  no  sense,  a  consequence 
of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  that  the  worst  offenders  are 
among  the  Jews  and  Christians.  A  large  number  of  the 
public  conveyances  belong  to  the  Jews,  and  the  overload- 
ing and  beating  of  their  horses  is  one  of  the  most  pain- 
ful features  of  street  life  in  Jerusalem.  It  is,  however, 
one  which  should  make  us  more  than  thankful  for  the  Mosaic 
institution  of  the  Sabbath,  as  the  Jewish  horse  and  ass  are 
probably  the  only  beasts  in  the  Holy  City  who  are  entitled 
by  law  to  a  seventh  day  of  rest,  and  an  even  longer  period 
for  recuperation  at  the  time  of  festivals.  It  is  the  Jews  who 
buy  up  the  living  wrecks  of  other  stables,  and  put  them 
upon  the  abominable  tread-mills,  where  the  poor  things  toil 
till  they  drop  dead  at  their  posts.  Although  it  is  an 
ancient  custom  among  the  Beduin  to  cut  the  ears  of  sporting 
dogs,  with  the  notion  of  quickening  their  sense  of  hearing, 
it  is  Christian  civilization  which  has  introduced  the  bar- 
barism, increasingly  prevalent,  of  cutting  the  ears  of  asses, 
and  the  ears  and  tails  of  domestic  dogs, — it  is  the  tourist, 

336 


BIRD   AND   BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

whose  selfishness,  taking  advantage  of  native  indifference,  is 
responsible  for  the  pain  and  exhaustion  which,  whenever  a 
traveller's  caravan  enters  Jerusalem,  cries  aloud  to  Heaven 
from  galled  and  saddle-sore  and  broken-kneed  horse  and 
mule  and  ass,  in  this  land  whe're  man,  responsible  for  the 
brute  creation,  was  first  taught  that  "  Blessed  are  the 
merciful." 

There  is  a  tradition  that  the  riding  of  horses  was  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  Moslems,1  and  forbidden  to  Jews  and 
Christians,  but  that  they  found  means  to  evade  the  prohi- 
bition ;  and  in  the  time  of  Mohammed  Ali  his  subjects 
complained  that  they  were  thereby  insulted.  The  Con- 
queror tactfully  contrived  to  evade  the  difficulty  by  sug- 
gesting that  it  was  undoubtedly  improper  that  the  faithful 
should  be  put  in  an  inferior  position,  but  it  was  always 
possible  to  vindicate  their  exalted  claims  by  riding  on 
camels,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  camel  is  almost  exclu- 
sively the  property  of  the  Moslem  population.  As  a  beast 
of  burden  he  is  a  necessity  of  the  country,  where  not  only 
grain  and  charcoal,  but  building  materials,  stone,  marble, 
lime,  wood,  have  to  be  carried  over  plain  and  mountain, 
where  roads  are  practically  unknown. 

To  the  picture-books  of  our  youth  we  owe  the  superstition 
that  a  dromedary  is  a  camel  with  two  humps.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  dromedary  is  to  the  camel  what  the  hunter  is 
to  the  cart-horse,  a  lighter  and  swifter  specimen  of  the  same 
genus,  and  the  two-humped  camel  is  never  seen  in  this  part 
of  the  world  at  all.  He  is  not  "  the  ship  of  the  desert," 
but  belongs  to  regions  farther  north — to  Turkestan,  Thibet 
and  China.  The  camel,  as  we  know  him  here,  is  undoubtedly 
the  camel  of  the  Bible,  of  whom  we  first  hear  as  part  of  a 

1  The  picture  of  a  Moslem  on  horseback  defiling  the  Holy  Places 
was  one  of  the  means  of  arousing  the  Third  Crusade.  To  this  day 
the  entrances  to  most  of  the  Crusading  and  Early  Christian  Churches 
are  partly  blocked  up,  leaving  doorways  only  about  five  feet  high, 
a  reminiscence,  it  is  said,  of  desecration  as  well  as  a  means  of  defence. 

337  Z 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

present  which  Abraham  received  from  Pharaoh,  and  which 
next  appears  as  in  use  among  the  Ishmaelites  for  carrying 
merchandise  of  spices,  balm  and  myrrh  (Gen.  xxxvii.  25). 
The  camel,  as  it  seems  to  us,  never  ceases  to  fascinate, 
never  begins  to  charm.  He  is  the  only  quadruped  of  my 
acquaintance  with  whom  I  have  never  desired  to  entertain 
individual  and  friendly  relations,  not  from  any  instinctive 
dislike,  but  because  he  seems  to  stand  outside  of,  and  apart 
from,  the  rest  of  the  brute  creation.  The  sheep,  in  whom 
one  also  feels  but  a  limited  personal  interest,  is,  so  naturalists 
tell  us,  the  relic  of  a  very  early  age  ;  he  has  never  advanced, 
he  exhibits  no  vestiges,  no  potentialities.  His  environment 
has  changed,  but  he  has  resisted  adaptation.  The  camel 
seems  to  have  come  down  direct  from  a  rudimentary 
landscape,  which  he  decorated,  as  he  does  now,  with  a 
frieze  of  curves,  grey  against  a  turquoise  sky,  from  a  world 
of  great  spaces  and  simple  requirements.  There  were 
giants  in  those  days,  but  there  were  no  roads,  and  he  could 
shuffle  along  in  the  dust  without  looking  in  (not,  however, 
that  he  ever  displays  the  smallest  interest  or  curiosity)  at 
second  floor  windows.  He  is  unsympathetic,  uninterested, 
disdainful,  and  he  smells  like  the  British  Museum  reading" 
room  at  four  o'clock  on  a  winter  afternoon.  While  he  is 
being  loaded  he  grumbles  the  whole  time  ;  once  afoot,  he 
displays  no  emotion  but  lofty  and  impersonal  disdain.  I 
have  seen  the  same  expression  on  the  face  of  a  dowager 
whose  daughter  is  flirting  with  a  younger  son ;  of  an  heir- 
apparent  in  reduced  circumstances  when  introduced  to  the 
American  who  has  "  rented  "  the  family  place  ;  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  'vert  when  confronted  with  the  village  curate  ;  of 
a  professional  clever  woman  when  one  talks  to  her  of  clothes. 
The  camel,  as  I  know  him,  comes  somewhere  between 
Mark  Twain's  and  Rudyard  Kipling's  ;  he  is  less  of  a  tame 
ineptitude  than  the  one,  less  of  an  intentional  aggravation 
than  the  other.  Let  us  take  the  poet  first ;  the  creature 
apparently  irritates  him  "  with  'is  silly  neck  a  bobbin'  like 

338 


BIRD   AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

a  basket  full  of  snakes."     He  gets  absolutely  angry  with 
"  the    commissariat  camel  puttin'  on  'is  bloomin'    frills." 


'E'll  gall,  an'  chafe,  an'  lame,  an'  fight — 'e  smells  most  awful  vile  ; 
'E'll  lose  'imself  for  ever,  if  you  let  'im  stray  a  mile. 

The  'orse  'e  knows  above  a  bit,  the  bullock's  not  a  fool, 
The  elephant's  a  gentleman,  the  battery  mule's  a  mule, 
But  the  commissariat  cam-u-el  when  all  is  said  and  done 
'E's  a  devil,  and  an  ostrich,  and  an  orphan-child  in  one. 

Mark  Twain's  requirements  were  less,  and  therefore  he  had 
the  less  to  resent.  "  We  have  been  trying  for  some  time  to 
think  what  a  camel  looks  like,  and  now  we  have  made  it 
out.  When  he  is  down  on  all  his  knees,  flat  on  his  breast 
to  receive  his  load,  he  looks  something  like  a  goose  swimming, 
and  when  he  is  upright,  he  looks  like  an  ostrich  with  an 
extra  set  of  legs.  Camels  are  not  beautiful,  and  their  long 
under  lip  gives  them  an  exceedingly  '  gallus  '  expression. 
They  have  immense,  flat,  forked,  cushions  of  feet,  and  they 
make  a  track  in  the  dust  like  a  pie  with  a  slice  cut  out  of 
it.  They  are  not  particular  about  their  diet.  They  would 
eat  a  tombstone  if  they  could  bite  it." 

It  would  not  do  for  most  of  the  beasts  of  the  Holy  Land 
to  be  particular  about  their  diet.  Vultures,  pariah  dogs 
and  stray  cats  are  probably  the  best  fed,  being  the  scavengers 
of  the  country.  As  you  walk  down  the  Vale  of  Siloam,  or 
Silwan,  as  one  learns  to  call  it  here,  you  note  perhaps  that 
some  of  the  tomb-dwellers  have  gone  out  for  the  day 
leaving  a  dead  donkey  opposite  their  front  door,  and,  with 
a  shudder,  you  go  on  your  way  past  Aceldama  (we  pronounce 
Akeldama  here,  not  as  the  Vicar  did  in  the  Second  Lesson 
last  Sunday)  along  Gehenna,  conjuring  up  visions  of  the 
unspeakable  horror  of  Moloch-worship,  of  the  children  made 
to  pass  through  the  fire ;  and  returning  a  couple  of  hours 
later  and  glancing  half  involuntarily  at  the  memento  mori 
of  the  morning,  you  are  startled  to  note  that  a  gleaming 
skeleton  remains,  where  so  lately  Brother  Ass  reminded  us 

339 


of  a  life  of  hardship  and  labour  and  final  suffering  and 
death.  The  vultures  overhead,  the  yellow  dogp  slinking 
out  of  sight,  are  already  on  their  way  to  finish  the  work 
begun  by  human  hands  at  the  slaughter-house  below  the 
village  of  Bethany,  on  the  road  to  Jericho.  Was  there  ever 
a  land  in  which  associations  are  so  strangely  intermixed 
as  here  ? 

The  cat  is  a  clean  animal,  and  Solomon  put  his  seal  on 
him.  He  flourishes  in  Jerusalem  to-day  with  all  the  dignity, 
vanity  and  independence  of  cats  everywhere  else.  Though 
the  Jews  must  certainly  have  known  cats  in  Egypt,  there 
is  no  trace  in  art  or  language  that  they  were  domesticated 
in  Syria.  The  Arabs  have  indeed  the  word  Jcatt,  but  its 
very  resemblance  to  the  English  cat,  the  French  chat,  the 
German  katze,  the  Danish  Jcat,  the  Celtic  cath,  the  Italian 
gatto,  all  derived  from  the  Latin  catus,  itself  a  late  word,  is 
apparent  evidence  that  the  creature  was  not  early  domesti- 
cated. The  Sanscrit  word,  it  is  interesting  to  recall,  is 
marjara,  "  the  clean  animal."  The  wild  cats  of  Syria  are 
two,  the  felis  chaus,  which  is  really  a  lynx,  and  the  felis 
Syriaca,  which,  to  the  eye  of  the  amateur,  differs  in  no 
respect  from  the  wild  cat  of  Europe.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  only  Biblical  reference  to  the  cat  is  in  Baruch,  in 
a  passage  which  certainly  suggests  that  he  was  then  reckoned 
among  the  wild  animals.  In  reference  to  the  forsaking  of 
the  idols  of  Babylon  we  read,  "  Upon  their  heads  and  bodies 
sit  bats,  swallows  and  birds,  and  the  cats  also  "  (Baruch 
vi.  22).  The  long-haired  cat,  the  household  favourite  in 
Jerusalem,  is  an  importation  here  as  in  Europe,  but  the 
climate  is  favourable,  and  he  multiplies  and  prospers.  Milk 
is  scarce,  but  rats  and  mice  abundant,  and  in  every  shop  in 
the  city,  and  in  the  courtyard  of  every  monastery,  he 
thrives  and  suns  himself,  generally  in  the  ill-marked  black 
and  white  variety,  which  testifies  to  the  absence  of  "  the 
fancy." 

The  dog,  which  has  been  in  most  countries,  and  in  all 

340 


BIRD   AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

ages,  the  friend  of  man,  was,  as  we  learn  from  Scripture, 
never  understood  or  appreciated  by  the  Jews,  and  to  this 
very  day,  although  so  numerous  in  Palestine,  they  seem  to 
have  usurped  the  character  elsewhere  bestowel  upon  cats, 
and  to  own  allegiance  to  places  rather  than  people.  In 
every  village  one  enters,  a  tribe  of  furious,  half-wild  dogs 
rush  out,  with  the  dog  instinct  of  protecting  their  sur- 
roundings ;  the  very  word  in  Hebrew  and  Arabic  for  dog, 
kelb,  is  thought  by  some  to  be  onomatopoeic,  and  to  signify 
their  yelping  character.  Even  the  absolutely  homeless  dog 
who  scavenges  the  city  streets  by  night,  and  serves  a  useful 
purpose  in  sorting  the  rubbish  heaps  outside  the  city  walls, 
for  animal  or  vegetable  matter,  is  said  to  have^  his  own 
district,  and  the  dogs  of  one  neighbourhood  allow  no  immi- 
gration or  poaching  from  those  of  another.  All  day  they 
wander  outside  the  walls,  but  "  at  evening  let  them  return, 
let  them  make  a  noise  like  a  dog,  and  go  round  about  the 
city.  Let  them  wander  up  and  down  for  meat,  and  grumble 
if  they  be  not  satisfied."  Beside  the  pariah  dog  of  the  towns, 
there  is  a  species  of  sheep-dog,  not  unlike  a  large  collie,  said 
to  be  faithful  and  brave  in  defence  of  his  flock  :  and,  above 
all,  there  is  the  beautiful  Persian  greyhound,  not  to  be 
surpassed  for  grace,  or  coat,  or  agility,  or  gentleness  of 
disposition,  by  any  of  the  products  of  civilization.  He  is 
much  valued  among  the  Beduin  for  hunting  the  gazelles. 
He  has  the  long  darting  paces  of  the  English  greyhound, 
but  in  appearance  reminds  one  rather  of  the  Irish  deer- 
hound,  if  an  Irish  deerhound,  with  his  well  opened  eye, 
can  be  imagined,  of  pelage  the  colour  of  his  own,  but  in 
texture  exquisitely  silky,  and  with  ears  and  legs  daintily 
feathered.  We  have  seen  various  European  dogs  in 
Jerusalem,  but  they  seldom  thrive,  and  the  race,  too  often 
the  individual,  rapidly  deteriorates. 

The  Arab  steed,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  European 
rider,  is,  as  one  gets  him  in  Jerusalem,  a  much  overrated 
animal.  With  arched  neck,  light  of  limb,  head  held  high, 

841 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

mane  and  tail  in  their  pristine  beauty,  accoutred  with  gay 
housings,  a  necklace  of  blue  beads  about  his  neck  for  preser- 
vation from  the  Evil  Eye,  an  ornament  formed  of  two  tusks 
hanging  upon  his  breast,  mounted  by  a  Beduin  Sheikh 
with  flowing  headdress  and  balanced  lance,  he  is  part  of 
a  picture  so  harmonious  that  one  almost  resents  it  as 
theatrical.  Or  again,  with  fringed  clothing  and  picturesque 
peaked  saddle,  ridden  by  a  Moslem  effendi  with  gay  turban 
and  lithe  Oriental  carriage,  prancing  and  curvetting,  and, 
as  the  Arabs  say,  doing  fantasias,  all  a  part  of  his  careful 
training,  he  is  again  a  subject  for  song  and  story.  But  the 
overworked,  nervous,  uncertain  creature,  whose  mouth  has 
been  spoilt  by  tourists,  whose  temper  by  constant  change 
of  stableman,  with  the  viciousness  of  stupidity,  and  the 
irresponsiveness  of  the  ill-used,  is  not  a  pleasant  animal  to 
ride.  He  can  amble  and  gallop,  but  has  never  been  taught 
to  canter,  and  his  trot  is  disagreeable.  The  Bedu,  as  a 
rule,  ride  mares  :  the  chances  are  that  the  worn-out  steed 
you  obtain  from  a  miscellaneous  stable  is  an  "  entire  " 
animal,  with  all  the  nervousness  and  irritability  of  his 
kind,  overlaid  with  the  sheepish  demeanour  consequent 
upon  his  circumstances,  and  liable  to  betray  you  at  any 
moment.  Travelling  in  a  caravan,  one  is  generally  en 
queue,  and  your  mount  is  more  than  docile,  but  get  him 
alone  on  the  high  road,  and  you  may  chance  to  find  your 
hands  full. 

Fortunately,  it  is  possible  to  obtain  really  serviceable 
donkeys  of  a  degree  of  grace  and  spirit  of  which,  as  associ- 
ated with  the  humble  ass,  we  of  the  West  know  nothing. 
Like  the  horse,  the  donkey  is  usually  "  entire,"  and 
occasionally,  regardless  of  his  rider,  takes  to  fighting  his 
companions.  He  is  likewise  addicted  to  braying,  which 
disconcerts  the  unwary,  but  on  the  whole  he  is  agreeable 
enough,  can  go  a  good  pace  for  a  moderate  distance,  has 
great  endurance,  and  is  very  surefooted,  which  is  a  great 
advantage  in  a  country  where  roads  are  few,  and  one  is 

342 


BIRD  AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

constantly  confronted  with  the  perpendicular,  slipping 
about  on  rocks,  or  seeking  cautious  foothold  in  the  dry  bed 
of  a  torrent,  or  on  "  paths  "  which  suggest  the  casual  spilling 
of  a  Yorkshire  wall.  The  Oriental  ass  is,  intellectually  as 
well  as  physically,  superior  to  his  Western  cousins.  It  is 
quaint  to  pass  a  long  string  of  camels  carrying  enormous 
weights,  looking  the  more  immense  for  the  narrow  path 
along  which,  tied  head  to  tail,  they  mechanically  tread  in 
each  other's  footsteps,  with  about  as  much  individuality 
as  the  carriages  of  a  railway  train.  The  pioneer  trotting 
along  in  front  of  the  string  of  a  dozen  or  fifteen  of  these 
huge  beasts,  who  chooses  the  path,  receives  the  master's 
orders,  keeps  the  whole  thing  going,  is  a  little  donkey,  who, 
alert  and  brisk,  is  responsible  for  the  whole  caravan. 
Equally  preposterous  is  it  to  see  an  ass  and  a  camel  ploughing 
together,  not  tandem,  which  might  have  some  advantages, 
but  abreast,  the  strength  of  the  one  supplemented  by  the 
intelligence  of  the  other. 

There  is  here  no  indignity  in  riding  upon  a  donkey,  and, 
indeed,  under  certain  circumstances,  there  is  no  choice  as 
to  means  of  locomotion.  The  native  women  are  hardly 
ever  seen  upon  horses,  though  sometimes  on  camels,  when 
they  have  quite  a  luxurious  little  platform,  which  probably 
accommodates  luggage  and  a  child  or  two  into  the  bargain, 
and  is  sometimes  protected  by  an  awning.  On  a  donkey 
they  sit  astride  ;  for  the  conventionality  which  requires 
that  the  face  should  be  concealed,  strikes  the  average  by 
leaving  entire  liberty  in  the  matter  of  legs,  and  several 
inches  of  the  striped  stockings  popular  in  this  country  are 
commonly  visible. 

Among  the  unrehearsed  effects  sometimes  attendant 
upon  such  occasions,  much  mirth  was  recently  evoked 
among  the  audience  of  a  missionary  lantern-lecture  on  the 
"  Life  of  our  Lord."  "  Fancy  Sitte  Miriam  on  a  side- 
saddle !  "  was  the  universal  exclamation  when  a  picture  of 
the  flight  into  Egypt  was  presented.  The  spectacle  of  a 

343 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

bedstead  in  the  picture  of  the  Annunciation  was  considered 
equally  ridiculous  in  a  country  where  a  mat,  or,  at  the 
best,  a  mattress,  is  the  usual  sleeping  accommodation. 
We  have  been  in  houses  of  persons  really  well  to  do  in  which 
a  bedstead,  with  mosquito  curtains  and  handsome  silk 
coverlet,  was  part  of  the  furniture  of  the  reception-room, 
not  intended  for  use,  but,  like  the  lustres,  Bohemian  glass 
vases  and  artificial  flowers,  a  recognition  of  a  stage  of  culture 
aesthetically,  in  truth,  inferior  to  their  own. 

Among  the  unfamiliar  wild  animals  one  is  likely  to  see, 
even  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem,  are  the  gazelle, 
jerboa,  hyena,  jackal,  and  coney.  Many  others  there  are, 
for  the  fauna  of  Palestine  is  very  varied,  owing  to  the  con- 
trast and  variety  of  climate  :  indeed,  it  is  said  that  over 
eighty  mammals  are  to  be  found.  The  beauty  and  grace 
of  the  gazelle  is  proverbial ;  it  makes  a  delightful  household 
pet,  trotting  up  and  down  stairs  after  its  friends  like  a  dog. 
It  requires  the  utmost  care,  however,  as  dogs  are  its  natural 
enemies,  and  the  domestic  favourite  often  falls  a  victim  to 
some  strange  visitant.  The  jerboa,  too,  is  easily  tamed. 
They  are  like  miniature  kangaroos,  with  fur  like  chinchilla, 
and  legs  of  very  disproportionate  length  ;  the  fore  legs  very 
short,  the  hind  legs  as  long  as  the  body,  about  five  or  six 
inches.  The  tail,  by  which  they  steer  their  leaps,  is  about 
eight  inches  long,  and  has  a  brush  at  the  end.  It  is  a  gentle 
creature,  and,  though  rat-like,  has  not  the  unpleasant 
smell  of  the  pet  rats  of  one's  school-days.  The  hyena 
prowls  within  a  short  distance  of  the  city,  skulking  among 
graveyards  and  in  rock-cut  tombs,  and  towards  dusk  is  often 
seen,  seeking  for  prey.  The  jackals,  unlike  the  fox,  are 
gregarious,  and  the  unhappy  beasts  whom  Samson  sent 
into  the  cornfields  of  the  Philistines  were  almost  certainly 
jackals.  To  catch  three  hundred  creatures  so  solitary  as 
the  fox  would  have  been  difficult.  The  jackals  probably 
are  also  "  the  little  foxes  that  spoil  the  vines,"  and  the  vine- 
yards are  still  carefully  protected  against  them.  They  are 

344 


SALT  Hn.i.s  NEAR  THE  DEAD  SEA. 


BIRD  AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

very  daring,  and  only  the  other  day  a  favourite  dog  belong- 
ing to  a  lady  in  Jerusalem  was  killed  by  jackals  in  her  own 
garden — killed  probably  for  food.  Happily,  they  were 
disturbed,  and  the  body  recovered.  The  coney  is  not,  as  in 
England,  a  rabbit,  but  a  species  of  the  genus  Hyrax,  neither 
a  rodent  nor  a  ruminant ;  and,  though  not  so  large  as  a  hare, 
his  only  relatives  are  the  hippopotamus  and  the  rhinoceros. 
He  is  found  in  the  direction  of  the  Dead  Sea,  notably  in  the 
gorge  of  the  Kedron,  in  the  wild  valley  of  Mar  Saba,  where 
the  earth  seems  as  if  all  turned  to  stone,  and  where  the 
aggregation  of  hermitages  which  now  compose  the  convent, 
a  settlement  of  Greek  monks,  clings  to  scanty  ledges  on 
the  face  of  the  great  stone  precipice  seven  hundred  feet 
high.  Here  man  is  so  solitary,  his  relation  to  Nature  so 
much  more  proportionate  than  elsewhere,  that  the  very 
jackals  come  up  for  food,  and  the  blackbirds  are  fed  daily 
at  stated  hours. 

The  European  residents  in  Jerusalem  seem  to  have  no 
tendency  in  the  direction  of  "  sport "  further  than  an 
occasional  pot-shot  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.  Perhaps 
they  lack  the  impetus  of  close  times,  game  laws,  and  gun- 
licences.  When  a  fox  gets  on  their  land  they  shoot  him, 
and  as  often  as  not  they  catch  partridges  in  traps  with 
decoys.  Such  ways  seem  to  have  always  been  the  custom 
of  the  country,  for  your  Jew  will  never  make  a  sportsman. 
David's  complaining  that  Saul's  persecution  of  him  "  was 
as  when  one  doth  hunt  a  partridge  in  the  mountains,"  refers 
to  the  custom,  still  extant,  of  hunting  down  partridges  and 
killing  them  with  throw-sticks,  for  the  Greek  partridge, 
the  large  and  excellent  variety  most  common  in  Syria, 
seldom  takes  to  wing,  but  hides  behind  rocks,  and  so  is 
chased  from  point  to  point.  In  Ecclesiasticus  (xi.  30)  we 
read,  "  Like  as  a  partridge  taken  in  a  cage  "  (doubtless 
for  decoy  purposes),  "  so  is  the  heart  of  the  proud,  and  like 
as  a  spy  watcheth  he  for  thy  fall." 

The  hare  is  not  very  often  in  the  market,  and  those  which 

345 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

one  buys  have  usually  been  shot.  The  Beduin  sheikhs, 
however,  the  only  sportsmen  of  the  Holy  Land,  pursue 
them  both  with  hawk  and  hound,  as  also,  one  regrets  to 
say,  the  gazelle.  The  Arabs  eat  hares'  flesh,  but  it  is  dis- 
dained by  the  Turks  and  prohibited  to  the  Armenians  by 
religious  scruple,  as  it  was,  according  to  Caesar,  to  the 
ancient  Britons. 

According  to  authorities,  the  fox  of  Judea  is  the  common 
fox  of  Europe.  All  I  have  chanced  to  see,  however,  and 
which  were  "  put  up  "  by  the  dogs  when  riding  over  waste 
land  and  among  tombs,  were  larger  and  lighter  in  colour 
than  any  I  have  seen  in  Great  Britain,  and  may  have  been 
of  the  kind  described  by  Dr.  Tristram  as  belonging  to  the 
wooded  districts  of  Galilee,  the  Canis  Syriacus  of  Colonel 
Hamilton  Smith. 

The  birds  of  Palestine  were  enumerated  by  Dr.  Tristram 
as  amounting  to  some  350  varieties,  and  the  English  visitor 
finds  with  pleasure  that  the  catalogue  includes  about  172 
species  familiar  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  here,  in  the  country 
of  many  tropical  varieties  and  some  of  rare  if  not  unique 
species,  like  the  graakle  and  the  sun-bird  of  the  Dead  Sea 
district,  one  may  find  the  lark,  the  robin,  the  cuckoo,  stone- 
chat,  sandpiper,  great-tit,  and  scores  of  other  familiar  friends. 

The  crested  lark  is  very  common,  and  here,  as  in  some 
other  countries,  he  is  a  special  favourite.  In  the  Heb- 
rides he  is  called  the  lark  of  Mary.  Here  too  he  has 
his  tradition.  Solomon,  as  is  well  known,  understood  the 
language  of  the  birds,  but  the  feathered  creation,  never- 
theless, refused  him  allegiance,  and  all  flew  away  except  the 
lark,  to  whom  he  awarded  a  crest  as  a  distinction.  The 
raven  was  the  ringleader,  and  was  caught  and  imprisoned; 
and  has  been  in  chains  ever  since,  as  any  one  may  see  from 
his  manner  of  walking.  There  is  another  raven,  with  lighter 
feathers  on  the  neck,  the  marks  of  Noah's  fingers,  for  he, 
and  not  corvus  corax,  was,  according  to  Arab  tradition,  the 
messenger  from  the  ark.  The  red  dove,  common  in  Pales- 

346 


THF.  RIVER  JORDAN. 


BIRD  AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

tine,  is  associated  by  tradition  with  the  blood  of  our  Lord  ; 
the  owl,  of  which  there  are  many  species  in  Palestine, 
figures  in  stories  of  Lilith,  the  first  wife  of  Adam,  and  the 
Arabs  have  a  tradition  of  one  species  which  they  call  bana, 
who  is  undoubtedly  an  incarnation  of  this  childless  and 
jealous  wife,  for  she  tears  the  flesh  from  the  faces  of  sleeping 
children. 

It  is  a  pleasant  picture  to  see  the  Elijahs  of  to-day  feeding 
the  ravens  of  the  Brook  Cherith,  where  the  ravens  fed  the 
Elijah  of  old.  The  northern  end  of  the  ravine  is  honey- 
combed with  hermitages,  still  inhabited  by  brown-robed 
ascetics  of  the  Greek  confession,  and  in  the  monastery  at 
the  head  of  the  glen,  where  for  convenience  of  communica- 
tion with  the  world  a  few  live  in  community,  one  may  be 
privileged  to  see  the  aged  Superior,  who  for  a  lifetime  has 
loved  and  lived  among  them,  sharing  his  meal  of  bread 
and  fruit  with  the  wild  creatures  of  the  glen. 

"  I  doo  Sudar,"  "  Come  along,  sir,"  he  says  in  gentle 
tones,  looking  upward  into  the  empty  space  of  clear  blue 
sky,  and  in  a  few  moments  there  is  a  glint  of  gold,  a  shadow 
of  deep  purple,  and  the  dainty  blackbirds  of  the  Jordan 
valley  hover  overhead  and  finally  descend  upon  the  out- 
stretched arm  of  the  old  man,  upon  his  shoulders,  his  head, 
and  the  iron  rail  which  protects  the  fragile  platform  overlook- 
ing the  precipice,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  brook  can  but 
trickle  to-day  in  the  March  sunshine,  but  which  in  December 
was  a  raging  torrent.  These  graceful  creatures,  with  feathers 
iridescent  against  the  sapphire  sky,  with  orange-glancing 
wing  feathers,  are  not  indeed  the  ravens  of  our  picture-books, 
but  also  they  are  not  the  prosaic  "  Arab  "  forced  upon  our 
unwilling  school-days  as  a  more  correct  translation,  and 
here  at  least  we  may  still  for  a  moment  cling  to  the  loved 
story. 


-our  meddling  intellect 


Mis-shapes  the  beauteous  forms  of  things. 
We  murder  to  dissect,  f 
347 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

The  people  of  Jerusalem  are  very  fond  of  singing  birds, 
and  cages  constantly  hang  before  the  doors  of  house  or 
shop.  Birds  of  all  kinds  still  abound  in  the  precincts  of  the 
Temple,  the  "  Happy  birds  that  sing  and  fly,  round  Thy 
altars,  Lord,  most  high."  "  The  sparrow  hath  found  an 
house,  and  the  swallow  a  nest ;  "  the  raven,  the  jackdaw,  the 
rook  all  find  shelter  around  the  House,  which  has  been 
dedicated  to  God  longer  than  any  spot  on  earth  ;  and,  says 
Dr.  Tristram,  "  the  Moslems  cherish  tenderly  any  birds 
which  resort  to  the  Mosques,  and  woe  betide  the  reckless 
stranger  who  should  meddle  with  them  !  The  storks  seem 
perfectly  aware  of  their  immunity,  as  do  the  doves  and 
other  birds  which  rest  in  numbers  in  such  situations " 
(Nat.  Hist.  Bib.  p.  160). 

The  storks  indeed  are  everywhere  welcome.  They  arrive 
in  great  flocks  about  the  third  week  in  March,  and  for  about 
six  weeks  are  to  be  seen  in  every  cornfield.  The  Arabs  call 
them  "  father  of  legs,"  and  greatly  value  their  presence, 
as  they  clear  the  land  of  snakes,  lizards,  frogs,  and  various 
pests  of  agriculture. 

A  visit  to  the  Holy  Land  goes  far  to  clear  away  many 
so-called  "  difficulties  "  of  Bible  interpretation.  Most  of 
us  who  are  familiar  with  the  gay,  chattering,  gregarious 
little  sparrow,  have  wondered  why  the  Psalmist,  sleepless 
from  sorrow,  should  describe  himself  as  a  sparrow,  "  alone 
upon  the  housetop."  Here  we  become  accustomed  to  a 
sparrow  which  is  non-gregarious  (the  petrocincla  cyanea, 
sometimes  called  the  "  blue  thrush  "),  uttering  a  plaintive, 
monotonous  tone,  and  sitting  sorrowfully  alone  upon  the 
housetop.  There  are,  however,  in  addition,  here  as  else- 
where, countless  flocks  of  the  familiar  passer  domesticus,  of 
the  passer  cisalpina,  of  the  true  sparrow,  passer  montanus, 
and,  above  all,  of  the  so-called  Spanish  sparrow,  passer 
silicariiis,  said  to  be  in  Palestine  the  most  numerous  of  all. 

The  observant  visitor  soon  discovers  that  the  swallow  of 
Jerusalem,  present  in  the  ehimney  and  gable  end,  summer 

348 


BIRD  AND  BEAST  IN  JERUSALEM 

and  winter  alike,  differs  somewhat  from  the  house-martin, 
as  well  as,  of  course,  from  the  swift  and  marsh-swallow, 
also  common  ;  and  one  learns  that  they  are  of  a  special 
Oriental  variety,  the  hirundo  cahirica. 

Perhaps  the  most  familiar  remaining  creatures  are  the 
various  lizards,  animals  which  seem  to  inspire  in  many 
persons  the  same  sense  of  horror  as  the  snake.  Personally, 
I  find  them  endlessly  interesting.  There  is  the  chameleon, 
whose  attributes  are  real  and  not  a  fairy  tale.  I  have  kept 
two,  one  of  a  species  which  basks  on  rocks,  another  of  the 
variety  which  prefers  a  tree,  especially,  it  is  said,  a  fig-tree. 
Both  turned  red  in  an  earthern  flower-pot,  brown  in  a 
cardboard  box,  and  a  dull  grey  when  nursed  upon  the  sleeve 
of  a  navy  blue  coat.  They  have  hands  which  remind  one 
of  the  filaments  of  ampelopsis  veitchii,  and  enormous  throats, 
which  they  inflate  when  excited,  whether  pleasurably  by 
abundance  of  flies,  or  the  reverse  by  too  much  handling. 
They  have,  moreover,  tails  which  curl  as  neatly  as  a  coil 
of  rope.  Surely  no  other  animal  in  the  world  has  eyes  so 
extraordinary.  They  are  placed  well  back  in  the  head,  and 
not  only  move  on  a  pivot,  like  a  nautical  telescope,  but  the 
two  pivots  occasionally  work  in  opposite  directions,  sug- 
gestive, not  so  much  of  a  squint  as  of  a  brain  of  which  the 
two  lobes  are  independently  and  equally  active. 

The  true  lizards  are  also  endless  in  variety  and  interest, 
some  said  to  be  so  venomous  that  the  Arabs  call  them  the 
"  father  of  leprosy."  Most  seem  to  be  entirely  harmless. 
Many  are  about  the  size  and  colouring  of  sparrows,  and, 
as  they  dart  along  the  ground,  are  difficult  to  distinguish 
from  birds.  They  have  a  trick,  disconcerting  enough,  if 
you  catch  them  by  the  tail,  of  leaving  it  in  your  hands. 

On  the  subject  of  these  beasts,  Mark  Twain  has  one  of 
those  outbursts  of  real  sentiment  for  which  one  thanks 
him  cordially  from  time  to  time  : — 

"  Grey  lizards,  those  heirs  of  ruins,  of  sepulchres,  and 
desolation,  glided  in  and  out  among  the  rocks  or  lay  still 

349 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

and  sunned  themselves.  Where  prosperity  has  reigned 
and  fallen  ;  where  glory  has  flamed  and  gone  out ;  where 
beauty  has  dwelt  and  passed  away  ;  where  gladness  was 
and  sorrow  is  ;  where  the  pomp  of  life  has  been  and  silence 
and  death  brood  in  its  high  places ;  there  this  reptile  makes 
his  home  and  mocks  at  human  vanity.  His  coat  is  the 
colour  of  ashes,  and  ashes  are  the  symbol  of  hope  that  has 
perished  ;  of  aspirations  that  come  to  naught ;  of  loves  that 
are  buried.  If  he  could  speak,  he  would  say,  Build  temples, 
I  will  lord  it  in  their  rums  ;  build  palaces,  I  will  inhabit 
them  ;  erect  empires,  I  will  inherit  them  ;  bury  your  beauti- 
ful, I  will  watch  the  worms  at  their  work  ;  and  you  who 
stand  here  and  moralize  over  me,  I  will  crawl  over  your 
corpse  at  the  last." 

After  which  cheerful  reflections,  it  is  but  timely  to  change 
the  subject. 


350 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
THE  HUMANITIES  IN  JERUSALEM 

CONVENTIONAL  WRITING  —  POETRY —  ART  —  LITERATURE 
AND  SCIENCE  —  EDUCATION — ROYAL  VISITORS — SIR 
MOSES  MONTEFIORE  —  CONSULAR  FLAGS  —  JEWISH 
INTERCESSION  —  ENGLISH  VISITORS  —  THE  P.E.F.— 
GERMAN  EXPLORATION  —  HOLY  PLACES  —  MODERN 
BUILDINGS — EDUCATIONAL  ERRORS — ARAB  EXAMINA- 
TION PAPERS 

IT  is  natural  enough  that  there  should  be  an  immense 
amount  of  conventional  writing  on  the  subject  of  the 
Holy  City.  There  are  certain  phrases  which  have  long  been 
accepted  with  the  same  uninquiring  acquiescence  as  the 
tonsure  in  pictures  of  the  apostles,  or  the  Dutch  or  Italian 
costumes  in  portraits  of  the  Virgin.  To  quote  examples 
would  be  as  easy  as  it  would  be  unprofitable.  It  is  plea- 
santer  and  more  edifying  to  remember  how  much  we  owe 
to  the  Western  Church  for  the  rhythm  of  S.  Bernard  ;  to 
the  Eastern  for  many  hymns  which  have  been  made  acces- 
sible to  the  English  reader  by  Dr.  Neale  ;  and  to  the  Anglican 
for  the  poems  of  Keble,  the  local  colour  of  which  strikes  the 
visitor  to  Jerusalem  as  the  more  interesting  that  the  poet 
never  visited  the  Holy  Land.  His  accuracy  was,  like  the 
historical  fidelity  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  that  generic  accuracy 
which  is  a  part  of  the  intuition  of  genius;  1  something 

1  I  may  add  one  little  pebble  to  the  great  cairn  of  appreciation 
of  the  accuracy  of  the  author  of  The  Talisman,  by  observing,  that 
in  a  recent  reading  of  this  story  among  the  scenes  described,  I  was 

351 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

infinitely  wider  than  the  mere  specific  fidelity  to  detail  which 
belongs  to  science  rather  than  to  art,  to  the  encyclopaedist 
rather  than  to  the  poet.  He  wrote,  for  example,  of  the 
shores  of  Gennesareth — 

All  through  the  summer  night 

Those  blossoms  red  and  bright 
Spread  their  soft  breasts  unheeding  to  the  breeze, 

Like  hermits  watching  still 

Around  the  sacred  hill 
Where  erst  our  Saviour  watched  upon  His  knees. 

Nothing  could  be  more  absolutely  real  than  the  generic 
truth  of  the  impression  which  those  lines  leave  upon  the 
memory  of  the  pilgrim,  but  the  poet  allowed  seventy-one 
editions  to  be  published  before  he  materialized  the  specific 
fact  that  the  blossoms  were  oleanders,  and  not  rhododen- 
drons, as  hitherto  stated  in  his  note,  to  the  exasperation  of 
the  mere  traveller. 

As  one  wanders  down  the  Valley  of  the  Kedron  below 
Mount  Sion,  shaded  with  olive  trees  and  honeycombed  with 
tombs  still  often  utilized  as  dwellings,  and  where,  alone  in 
all  the  Holy  City  one  may  find  "  fresh  springs,"  with  us  an 
ever  favourite  moonlight  stroll,  it  is  impossible  not  to  recall 
the  lines — 

Or  choose  thee  out  a  cell 

In  Kedron's  storied  dell, 
Beside  the  springs  of  Love  that  never  die ; 

Among  the  olives  kneel 

The  chill  night-blast  to  feel, 
And  watch  the  moon  that  saw  thy  Master's  agony. 

impressed  by  the  extraordinary  fidelity  of  its  local  colour  and 
general  atmosphere.  The  solitary  exception  is  the  presence  of 
rose-buds  in  Engadi  which  may,  however,  have  been  brought  from 
the  Wadi  Ward  (Valley  of  Roses)  ten  hours  north.  The  Saracen 
welcome  (ch.  xxvii.),  by  the  discharge  of  blunt  arrows,  is  the 
ancient  equivalent  of  the  "  Gunpowder  Play "  (laab- el-bar ut) 
described  by  Burton  (Arabia  vol.  ii.,  86),  and  which  we  have  our- 
selves witnessed. 

352 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  picture  of  the  country,  as  the  Israelites  found  it,  is 
touchingly  realistic  here,  where  one  is  still  living  among  the 
people  whom  they  dispossessed. 

The  orphaned  realm  threw  wide  her  gates,  and  told 
Into  freed  Israel's  lap  her  jewels  and  her  gold. 
And  when  their  wondrous  march  was  o'er, 

And  they  had  won  their  homes, 
Where  Abraham  fed  his  flock  of  yore 

Among  their  father's  tombs ; 
A  land  that  drinks  the  rain  of  Heaven  at  will,1 
Whose  waters  kiss  the  feet  of  many  a  vine-clad  hill. 

Oft  as  they  watched  at  thoughtful  eve 

A  gale  from  bowers  of  balm 
Sweep  o'er  the  billowy  corn,  and  heave 

The  tresses  of  the  palm 

Just  as  the  lingering  sun  had  touched  with  gold, 
Far  o'er  the  cedar-shade,  some  tower  of  giants  old. 

It  was  a  fearful  joy,  I  ween, 

To  trace  the  heathen's  toil, 
The  limpid  wells,  the  orchards  green, 

Left  ready  for  the  spoil.  .  .  . 

Here,  where  every  day  one  meets  with  the  foundations  of 
"  some  tower  of  giants  old,"  with  the  traces  of  the 
heathen's  toil ;  the  cisterns  which  kept  the  orchards  green, 
which  made  possible  the  billowy  corn — all  evidences  of  days 
pre-Hebraic,  days  barely  thinkable  to  us  who  look  upon 
Crusading  times  as  remote,  and  count  it  an  honour  to  date 
from  the  Norman  Conquest  of  our  country — here  only  can 
one  really  appreciate  the  poet's  accuracy. 

Nor  may  our  household  vine  or  fig-tree  hide 
The  broken  arches  of  old  Canaan's  pride. 

We  are  perpetually  thanking  Keble  for  some  happy 
epithet.  When  we  drive  down  to  Jericho  we  think  of — 

1  To  appreciate  the  accuracy  of  this,  one  has  to  realize  that,  in  a 
country  without  rain  for  more  than  half  the  year,  without  streams, 
almost  without  springs,  the  grain  and  fruit  harvest  are  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  dew.  The  dew  clouds  about  sunset  are  often 
sucli  as  to  suggest  a  rainy  morrow  to  the  occidental. 

353  A  A 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

The  rude  sandy  lea, 
Where  stately  Jordan  flows  by  many  a  palm. 

After  the  early  or  the  latter  rain,  we  note — 

Green  lake,  and  cedar  tuft,  and  spicy  glade 
Shaking  their  dewy  tresses,  now  the  storm  is  laid. 

Here  it  is  true  that  not,  as  at  home,  the  grass,  but — 

The  fresh  green  earth  is  strew' d 
With  the  first  flowers  that  lead  the  vernal  dance. 

Only  those  who  know  can  fully  realize  the  justness  of  the 
epithet  applied  to  "  Tabor's  lonely  peak,"  to  the  dreary  plain 
beyond,  "  landscape  of  fear,"  to  the  lilies  of  the  field  spring- 
ing when  all  rain  is  over  but  "  bath'd  in  soft  airs  and  fed  with 
dew,"  to  loneliness  accentuated,  not  by  winds  wailing  amid 
forest  trees,  but  "  the  fitful  sweep  Of  winds  across  the 
steep,  Through  withered  bents." 

Here,  when  in  the  early  morning  the  sweet  rich  cry  of  the 
Muezzin  and  the  bell  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
contend  which  shall  first  arouse  us  to  our  morning  prayer, 
and  one  rises  to  open  the  window  and  look  across  the 
sleeping  city  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  where  in  many  a  dewy 
dawn  our  Lord  watched  the  mists  ascending  from  the 
Jordan  valley  and  floating,  as  now,  over  the  mountains  of 
Moab,  one  recalls — 

The  moist  pearls  now  bestrewing 
Thymy  slope  and  rushy  vale ; 
*  *  * 

Not  by  manna  showers  at  morning 
Shall  our  wants  be  then  supplied. 
But  a  strange  pale  gold  adorning 
Many  a  tufted  mountain  side. 

Perplexed  and  bewildered  among  the  conflicting  claims  of 
exact  spots  within  Gethsemane,  the  Grotto  of  the  Agony,  the 
grand  old  olive  trees,  the  inner  and  outer  garden,  it  is 
infinitely  restful  to  recall  the  lines — 

354 


THE  GARDEN  OF  GETHSEMANE. 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

There  is  a  spot  within  this  sacred  dale 

That  felt  Thee  kneeling — touch'd  Thy  prostrate  brow, 

One  Angel  knows  it. 

Or  again,  at  the  Sacred  Tomb,  with  all  its  adornments, 
crude  or  costly,  reminders  at  once  of  the  homogeneousness 
and  of  the  unhappy  divisions  of  Christendom,  many  may 
recall  that  here  assuredly  was 

The  other  holy  garden 
Where  the  Lord  was  laid. 

The  accretions  of  time,  the  accentuations  of  strife  and 
opposition,  disappear,  and  one  remembers  only  that 

E'en  the  lifeless  stone  is  dear 
For  thought  of  Him  who  late  lay  here, 
And  the  base  world,  now  Christ  hath  died, 
Ennobled  is  and  glorified. 

The  exultations  of  the  devout  S.  Bernard  belong  to  another 
mood  than  that  in  which  we  respond  to  the  tender  local 
colour  of  him  of  whom  Stanley  has  so  well  said,  "  It  is  not 
David  only,  but  the  Sibyl,  whose  accents  we  catch  in  his 
inspirations." 

There  is  a  musical  old  Elizabethan  poem  of  which  some 
few  verses,  beginning  "  Jerusalem,  my  happy  home,"  are 
popularly  known,  which  arises  spontaneously  into  one's 
mind,  not  in  Jerusalem,  but  along  the  road  leading  down  to 
S.  John's  (Ain  Karim),  the  home  of  Zechariah  and  Elizabeth 
in  the  sweet  hill  country,  an  hour's  ride  from  the  Holy  City. 
The  little  glen  rejoices  in  one  of  the  few  springs  to  be  found 
in  the  district,  and  the  hillsides  are  clothed  with  trees  and 
waving  with  gardens  and  cornfields.  Here  the  women  still 
cluster  about  a  well  where  the  Virgin  must  often  have  filled 
her  water- jar ;  and  as  one  turns  back  eastward,  perhaps  in 
the  golden  evening  light,  the  memory  of  the  Jerusalem  of 
to-day  is  glorified  by  thoughts  of  the  past,  and  of  the  future  ; 
and  borrowing  from  the  scene  around,  the  quaint  old  song 
takes  on  a  vivid  reality— 

355 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Ala,  my  sweet  home,  Hierusalem, 

Would  God  I  were  in  thee  ; 
Would  God  my  woes  were  at  an  end 

Thy  J°ys  that  I  might  see  !  .  .  . 
For  there  they  live  in  such  delights, 

Such  pleasure  and  such  play, 
As  that  to  them  a  thousand  years 

Doth  seem  as  yesterday.  .  .  . 
Quite  through  the  streets  with  silver  sound 

The  flood  of  Life  doth  flow, 
Upon  whose  banks  on  every  side 

The  wood  of  Life  doth  grow. 
Our  Lady  sings  Magnificat 

With  tones  surpassing  sweet, 
And  all  the  virgins  bear  their  part, 

Sitting  about  her  feet. 

There  is  nothing  that  I  know  of  in  English  verse  that  one 
can  set  beside  these  gentle  cadences,  unless  it  be  some  of  the 
lines  of  Christina  Rossetti,  which  have  something  of  the 
same  effect  of  passionless  desire,  as  of  angels  with  folded 
wings — 

Jerusalem  of  fire 
And  gold  and  pearl  and  gem, 
Saints  flock  to  fill  thy  choir, 
Jerusalem. 

Lo,  thrones  thou  hast  for  them, 
Desirous  they  desire 
Thy  harp,  thy  diadem, 
Thy  bridal  white  attire, 
Palm -branches  from  thy  stem  ; 
Thy  holiness  their  hire, 
Jerusalem. 

She  is  nearer  to  the  blithe  utterances  of  the  ecclesiastical 
Latin  versifiers  in  other  lines,  such  as — 

Jerusalem  makes  melody 

For  simple  joy  of  heart, 
An  organ  of  full  compass  she 

One-tuned  through  every  part. 
While  not  to  day  or  night  belong 
Her  matins  and  her  evensong, 
The  one  thanksgiving  of  her  tlirong. 
356 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  in  the  lines  Urbs  Coelestis, 
Jerusalem,  written  for  a  translation  of  the  Primer  or  Office 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  sings  in  somewhat  the  same  key, 
and  Richard  Crashaw's  verses,  At  Bethlehem,  are  the 
inevitable  lilt  with  which  one  descends  the  hill,  leaving 
behind  the  breezy  tableland  of  Rephaim  at  the  point  where 
the  bright  little  town,  with  its  Church  of  the  Nativity  and 
to  the  east  the  Shepherd's  Field,  just  come  into  view. 

The  Babe  looked  up  and  showed  his  face, 
In  spite  of  darkness  it  was  day : 
It  was  thy  day,  Sweet !  and  did  rise, 
Not  from  the  East,  but  from  thine  eyes. 

Welcome  all  wonders  in  one  sight, 

Eternity  shut  in  a  span  ! 

Summer  in  Winter  !  Day  in  Night  ! 

Heaven  in  earth  !  and  God  in  man  ! 

Great  Little  One,  Whose  all-embracing  birth 

Lifts  Earth  to  Heaven,  stoops  Heaven  to  earth.1 

Some  of  the  most  familiar  of  our  hymns  *  were  composed 
in  the  gloomy  Convent  of  Mar  Saba,  a  spot  inconceivably 
desert,  where  all  but  the  sky  seems  to  be  composed  of  solid 
rock.  No  one  who  has  ever  taken  that  wild  mountain  ride 
along  the  Valley  of  the  Kedron,  getting  deeper  at  each  step 
into  the  heart  of  the  lonely  hills,  where  only  the  faint  ghost  of 
human  life  glances  out  of  that  aggregation  of  solitary  cells, 
can  ever  fail  to  marvel  at  the  vitality  of  the  inner  vision 
which,  amid  such  surroundings,  could  picture — 

Those  eternal  bowers 

Man  has  never  trod ; 
Those  unfading  flowers 

Round  the  throne  of  God. 

1  Among  others  those  of  S.  John  Damascene  (A.D.  c.  780),  "  Tho 
Day  of  Resurrection,"  "  Those  eternal  bowers,"  "  Come  ye  faithful, 
raise  the  strain,"  ;  of  S.  Stephen  the  Sabbaite,  "  Art  thou  weary  ? 
Art  thou  languid  ?  "  To  S.  Andrew  of  Crete  (and  of  Jerusalem, 
660-732)  we  owe  "  Christian,  dost  thou  see  them  ?  " 

357 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

or  could  greet  the  Easter  sunrise  with  words  so  joyous  as 
in  the  song — • 

'Tis  the  spring  of  souls  to-day : 

Christ  hath  burst  His  prison, 
And  from  three  days'  sleep  in  death 

As  the  sun  hath  risen. 
All  the  winter  of  our  sins, 

Long  and  dark,  is  flying 
From  His  light,  to  Whom  we  give 

Laud  and  praise  undying. 

The  whole  world  of  Art  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Holman 
Hunt  as  a  pioneer  in  the  direction,  afterwards  pursued  by 
certain  others,  notably  Tissot,  whose  artistic  atmosphere  is 
so  extraordinarily  true  that  on  several  occasions  I  have 
found  an  explanation  of  a  certain  sense  of  familiarity  with 
Jerusalem  scenes  and  scenery,  in  the  fact  that  I  was  already 
acquainted  with  them  in  his  pictures.  When  I  had  the 
privilege  of  watching  him  in  his  studio  in  Paris  at  work 
upon  an  immense  canvass,  representing  the  entry  of  the 
Patriarch  into  Bethlehem,  I  little  thought  how  soon  I  should 
witness  the  very  same  in  all  its  added  bravery  of  movement. 

Mr.  Hunt's  pictures,  equally  true,  and  with  the  distinction 
of  greater  selection,  make  special  appeal  to  those  who  have 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  Holy  Land.  He  arrived  in 
Jerusalem  in  1854,  at  a  period  when,  perhaps,  England  was 
at  her  best,  from  the  intellectual  point  of  view  in  her 
relation  with  the  Holy  City.  Dr.  Robinson  of  the  United 
States,  the  pioneer  of  all  Palestine  exploration,  was  there, 
as  well  as  some  distinguished  foreigners,  Roth,  Petermann, 
and  others.  While  Mr.  Hunt  was  painting  from  living 
models  his  "  Finding  of  Christ  in  the  Temple,"  Mr.  Seddon, 
in  a  tent  pitched  above  Aceldama,  was  at  work  upon  his 
"  Olivet  and  Siloam."  The  English,  under  Consul  Finn, 
had  established  an  active  literary  society  (of  which  one 
member  was  a  missionary)  for  the  "  investigation  and 
elucidation  of  any  subject  of  interest,  literary  or  scientific, 
of  any  period  whatever  within  the  Holy  Land."  They  often 

358 


had  valuable  lectures  from  passing  visitors  of  various  creeds 
and  nationalities  ;  the  Prince  Consort,  the  King  of  Prussia, 
the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  and  others  gave  large  contributions  ; 
the  missionary  bishop  became  a  patron,  the  University  of 
Cambridge  contributed  £40  a  year  for  the  establishment,  by 
the  English  doctor,  of  a  botanical  garden  ;  various  learned 
bodies  sent  donations  of  scientific  instruments  ;  weekly 
meetings  were  held  for  the  discussion  of  discoveries  and  of 
gifts  and  loans  ;  learned  foreigners  became  corresponding 
members  ;  travellers,  such  as  Layard,  Burder  and  others 
sent  objects  of  interest ;  manuscripts  collected  were,  after 
due  study  and  discussion,  handed  over  to  the  British  Museum, 
and  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Reinhardt,  a  member,  gathered  and 
exhibited  one  of  the  finest  collections  of  Palestine  coins  then 
in  existence. 

The  excellent  climatic  conditions  of  Jersualem,  with  its 
mean  average  temperature  62J,  and  the  very  unusual 
opportunity  for  the  study  of  European  and  Oriental  lan- 
guages,1 suggested  the  foundation  of  a  school  of  such  a  class 
that  it  might  not  merely  serve  for  the  children  of  resident 
Europeans,  but  be  of  value  to  families  residing  hi  the  Levant, 
Egypt,  and  even  India.  Elder  students  would  have  a  rare 
chance  for  the  study  of  history  in  a  land  in  which  the  pro- 
gress of  nations  had  left  so  many  traces,  and  many  branches 
of  science  could  be  pursued  under  considerable  advantages. 
The  college  was  opened  and  a  Head-master  selected — the 
Rev.W.  J.  Beaumont,  a  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
holding  high  University  honours — the  Chancellor's  gold 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  even  Hindustani  is  included  among 
the  babel  of  tongues  to  be  heard  in  Jerusalem,  not  only  among  the 
Moslem  pilgrims  to  the  Haram,  who  are  to  be  found  in  large  numbers 
in  the  hospices  close  to  the  Holy  Place,  but  also  among  Jacobite 
pilgrimages  of  S.  Thomas  Christians  from  the  Malabar  coast.  The 
Jews,  too,  and  Armenians  are  in  constant  relation  with  India  and 
receive  large  numbers  of  pilgrims  and  merchants,  so  that  one  often 
hears  various  languages  of  India  in  walking  through  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem. 

359 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

medal  and  Senior  optime  degree.  The  students,  besides 
resident  Europeans,  included  Maronites  from  the  Lebanon, 
Oriental  Jews,  a  Greek  monk  from  Thessaly,  and  Germans 
preparing  for  work  in  Abyssinia. 

All  that  now  remains  of  the  hopes  and  achievements  of 
these  good  old  days  is  the  Literary  and  Scientific  Society 
so-called,  of  which  the  sole  remaining  object  is  to  join  in 
subscription  for  certain  periodicals.  A  few  books  remain  in 
an  obscure  room  of  the  L.  J.  S.  and  the  Botanical  Garden 
has  ceased  to  exist. 

Jerusalem  has  benefited,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  pre- 
sence of  distinguished  visitors,  the  earliest  since  the  Crusades 
being  the  unhappy  Princess  of  Wales  in  1816.  Prince  Albert 
of  Prussia  followed  next  in  1843,  and  his  former  consort, 
Princess  Marianne  of  the  Netherlands,  in  1850.  These  came 
and  left  no  trace,  but  in  1855  the  Consuls  had  become  suf- 
ficiently numerous  to  begin  the  quarrel  for  precedence  which 
the  curious  may  still  continue  to  observe  on  the  occasion  of 
any  arrival  of  interest.  The  ostensible  object  of  this  com- 
petition was  to  honour  the  visit  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Brabant. 

Belgium  then,  as  now,  had  no  Consul,1  and  the  guests 
were  personally  under  the  conduct  of  Austria.  The  Spanish 
Consul  prepared  to  receive  them  in  two  Spanish  convents 
(at  Ramleh  and  Ain  Karim),2  which  they  were  to  visit  on 

1  One  may  venture  to  conjecture  that  now  that  so  many  members 
of  religious  Orders  having  houses  in  Jerusalem  are  taking  refuge  in 
Belgium  the  pious  and  hospitable  little  monarchy  will  not  remain 
long  unrepresented. 

2  The  contention  between  the  general  claims  of  France  and  the 
special  claims  of  Spain  in  relation  to  the  Spanish  Convent  at  Ain 
Karim  broke  out  again  in  September,  1855.     Apropos,  perhaps,  of 
the  general  hoisting  of  consular  flags  which  followed  the  fall  of 
Sebastopol,  the  friars,  aided  by  the  Spanish   Consul,  not  only  put 
up  the  Spanish  flag,  but  proceeded  to  erect  a  permanent  iron  cross, 
However,  a  French  Commissioner  happened  to  be  in  Jerusalem  at 
the  time.     The  French  Consul,  it  seems,  being  absent,  reinforced 
by  a  crowd  of  peasantry  from  Bethlehem,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 

360 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

the  way,  claiming  as  well  right  of  precedence  in  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  ;  claims  which  France,  as  the  Protector  of  Christi- 
anity in  the  East,  successfully  resisted.  The  Latin  Patriarch, 
equal  to  the  occasion,  addressed  the  royal  visitors  in  French, 
although  himself  a  Sardinian,  and  although  the  King  of  Sar- 
dinia, it  should  be  remembered,  had  always  claimed  to  be 
King  of  Jersualem,  a  title,  however,  assumed  by  the  Emperor 
of  Austria.  All  passed  off,  not  only  with  perfect  order,  but 
with  all  the  parade  and  distinction  important  on  an  occa- 
sion when  precedents  were  undoubtedly  established.  Much 
credit  was  due  to  the  courtesy,  tact  and  intelligence  of  the 
Turkish  Government  at  a  time  when  the  mutual  relations 
of  various  European  countries  with  each  other  and  with 
Turkey  were  approaching  a  crisis — not  two  years  before  the 
Crimean  war.  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  these 
same  royal  personages  were  the  first  Europeans  permitted 
publicly  to  visit  the  Temple  area. 

The  same  year  brought  a  visitor  whose  personality, 
liberality  and  subsequent  tragic  fate  have  perpetuated  his 
memory  in  Jerusalem — the  Archduke  Maximilian,  after- 
wards Emperor  of  Mexico.  He  and  his  companion,  a  royal 
Duke  of  Wurtemburg,  arriving  merely  as  naval  officers, 
having  left  their  ship  at  Jaffa,  were  met  by  the  Pasha  and 
afterwards  by  the  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastics  and  Consuls 
with  all  due  ceremony.  The  Austrian  Jews,  moreover, 
afforded  them  a  joyous  welcome  ;  but  one  unfortunate 
incident  occurred,  which  is  worth  remembering  here, 
where  many  delicate  questions  of  precedence  are  of  daily 
occurrence.  They  visited  the  sacred  places  of  Jerusalem 
and  Bethlehem  as  well  as  the  Temple  area,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded northwards.  In  sight  of  the  Convent  of  Mount 
Carmel  the  Archduke  objected  to  place  himself  under  the 
hospitality  of  the  French  flag,  and  desired  that  during  his 
stay  it  might  be  replaced  by  that  of  his  own  country,  a  re- 
Pasha  (a  Frenchman),  achieved  the  removal  of  the  Spanish  Cross  and 
substituted  a  gilt  one  provided  by  the  French  authorities. 

361 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

quest  which,  as  Carmel  is  one  of  the  Holy  Places  technically 
acknowledged  in  the  Sultan's  dominions  as  under  the  pro- 
tection of  France,  the  good  monks  were  unable  to  grant,  al- 
though it  so  happened  that  at  the  moment  not  one  of  their 
number  was  a  Frenchman ;  and  the  royal  visitors  turned 
away.  A  permanent  memorial  of  their  visit  to  Jerusalem  is 
the  very  fine  bronze  statue  of  S.  Helena  which  beautifies  the 
Chapel  of  the  Invention  of  the  Cross,  as  well  as  some  costly 
lamps  also  presented  by  the  archduke  to  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  He  also  restored  the  very  ancient  chapel 
known  as  that  of  "  The  Flagellation."  It  had  been  desecrated 
in  1618,  but  was  restored  to  the  Guardians  of  the  Holy 
Place  in  1838  by  the  liberality  of  Ibrahim  Pasha. 

This  same  eventful  year  of  1855  is  memorable  in  Jerusalem 
for  the  introduction  of  fireworks.  The  occasion  was  that 
of  the  Papal  Bull  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  and 
the  buildings  of  the  Franciscans  were  brilliantly  illuminated 
with  lamps  and  transparencies  ;  many  private  houses 
followed  suit,  and  even  the  military  Pasha  contributed 
squibs  and  rockets.  The  gay  scene  was  repeated  on  March 
3,  1902,  on  the  occasion  of  the  jubilee  of  His  Holiness, 
the  addition  of  at  least  a  score  of  immense  Latin  institu- 
tions serving  to  multiply  the  sphere  of  festivity  ;  one  sugges- 
tive feature  being  the  enormous  cross  of  electric  lights 
standing  out  triumphantly  against  the  dark  blue  heavens 
crowning  the  Convent  of  Notre  Dame  de  France  and 
shedding  its  pure  radiance  around. 

Another  important  event  of  this  year,  1855,  was  the 
arrival — the  second,  I  believe,  of  his  seven  visits — of  Sir 
Moses  Montefiore,  in  charge  of  a  large  sum  of  money  pre- 
sented mainly  by  an  American  benefactor  named  Touro  for 
the  use  of  the  poor  Jews  of  the  Holy  Land.  At  an  earlier 
visit,  in  1849,  he  had  inaugurated  certain  charities,  and  in 
1854  M.  Albert  Cohn  had  founded  the  Rothschild  Hospital, 
the  lying-in  charity  and  the  schools  for  girls,  which  are  an 
increasingly  important  feature  of  Jerusalem  benevolence. 

362 


AN    ASHKENAZIM   JEW. 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  almshouses,  dwelling-houses,  dispensary,  synagogue 
and  mill,  which  stand  so  conspicuously  above  the  road  to 
Bethlehem,  facing  Mount  Sion,  were  the  practical  outcome  of 
this  visit,  and  this  sale  of  land  to  a  foreigner  and  a  non- 
Moslem  was  another  important  precedent  in  the  history  of 
the  relations  of  Jerusalem  with  the  Turkish  Government. 
Sir  Moses  Montefiore  being  a  British  subject,1  the  deed  was 
witnessed  in  the  British  Consulate.  It  may  be  interesting 
to  remark  in  passing  that  some  technical  difficulty  having 
arisen  some  four  or  five  years  ago  in  the  acquisition  by  the 
Jews  of  the  present  buildings  of  the  Evelina  de  Rothschild 
schools,  where  600  girls  are  taught  in  the  English  language,  the 
lease  was  made  out  on  behalf  of  the  Latin  Patriarch,  a  tribute 
to  liberality  of  feeling  on  both  sides,  which  in  Jerusalem  is  of 
especial  value.  Sir  Moses,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit,  showed 
equal  liberality  in  another  direction,  in  presenting  the  neces- 
sary provision  for  the  celebration,  by  two  thousand  people,  of 
the  Moslem  festival  of  the  Corban  Bairam.  Music  and 
bonfires  were  kept  up  all  night,  and  a  large  number  of  sheep 
consumed  in  honour  of  the  sacrifice  by  Abraham. 

On  the  other  hand,  certain  Askkenazim  Jews  of  very 
strict  orthodoxy  exhibited  a  contrary  spirit  of  bigotry  and 
prejudice,  which  was  at  least  self-sacrificing  and  consistent 
where  their  nation  had  so  much  to  gain  or  to  lose  ;  for  they 
excommunicated  the  generous  philanthropist  in,  it  is  said, 
three  synagogues.  His  additional  offences  against  their 
narrower  views  were  two.  In  the  first  place,  the  purchase  of 
land  in  the  Holy  City  is  contrary  to  their  principles.  They 
believe  literally  in  the  promise,  "  The  land  shall  not  be  sold 
for  ever ;  the  land  is  Mine,"  (Lev.  xxv.  23).  Further,  he 
had  visited  the  sacred  enclosure  of  the  Temple,  a  place  for- 
bidden to  Jewish  orthodoxy  on  account  of  the  danger  of 
treading  unconsciously  on  the  spot  where  the  sacred  vessels 

1  The  deed  of  sale  describes  him  as  "  The  honourable  person  of  the 
Mosaic  sect  and  ornament  of  the  tribe  ef  Israel,  who  is  a  nobleman 
of  the  Government  of  England." 

363 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

of  the  law  are  buried,1  or  upon  that  of  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
The  less  fanatical  contend,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
Talmud  dispenses  from  the  crime  of  sacrilege  him  who  walks 
over  even  what  is  sacred,  if  beyond  a  certain  number  of 
cubits  underground  ;  and  the  author  of  that  very  interesting 
work  Jewish  Life  in  the  East,  himself  a  Jew,  observes  that 
without  the  presence  of  the  Deity  the  Holy  of  Holies  no 
longer  exists.  Moreover,  he  suggests  that  as,  according  to 
other  tradition,  the  Tables  of  the  Law  were  removed  by  the 
Prophet  Jeremiah  or  stolen  by  the  Assyrians,  the  danger  is 
minimised  of  trampling  the  Law  underfoot. 

In  the  autumn  of  1855,  after  the  fall  of  Sebastopol,  the 
Consulates  established  the  custom  of  hoisting  their  national 
flags  on  festival  occasions,  the  Protestants  on  Sundays  and 
royal  birthdays,  others  on  all  festivals  of  their  respective 
Churches  also.  Those  of  France,  Austria,  Spain  and  Prussia, 
on  their  first  appearance,  were  respectfully  saluted  by  the 
Turkish  cannon,  twenty-one  guns  being  fired,  as  at  a  Moslem 
festival. 

Another  event  of  this  year  important  from  several  points 
of  view,  religious  and  political,  was  the  commencement  of 
the  plan  for  the  building  of  the  Austrian  Hospice.  Hitherto 
the  hospitalities  of  Jerusalem  towards  the  Western  world 
had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Franciscans  only,  and  the  royal 
visits,  Belgian  and  Austrian,  may  have  suggested  the  policy 
of  reminding  the  Turkish  authorities  of  the  existence  of 
other  Catholic  powers  beside  the  French.  Another  violation 

1  The  story  is  current  in  Jerusalem  that  only  a  year  or  two  ago 
some  Moslem  children,  playing  in  the  Temple  courts,  fell  into  one 
of  the  immense  reservoirs  which  underlie  a  large  portion  of  the 
Haram  area,  the  storage  of  millions  of  gallons  of  water.  The  last 
time  one  of  these  storehouses  for  the  water  supply  had  been  cleaned 
out,  human  remains  had  been  discovered,  and  this  recent  event  had 
made  the  Moslems  sensitive  on  the  score  of  pollution.  A  Jew  in 
the  neighbourhood  volunteered  to  search  for  the  bodies  on  condition 
that  he  was  carried  to  and  from  the  cistern  on  another  man's  back, 
so  as  not  to  set  foot  on  the  sacred  soil. 

364 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

of  precedent  was  the  employment,  in  the  process  of  construc- 
tion, of  carts,  a  means  of  transportation  not  seen  in  Jeru- 
salem since  the  Crusades,  and  which  were  the  remains  of 
material  provided  for  our  troops  for  the  construction  of  the 
Balaclava  railroad. 

According  to  Macgregor  ("  Rob  Roy  ")  the  first  carriage 
seen  in  Palestine  for  many  centuries  belonged  to  an  American 
named  Floyd.  The  first  road  of  modern  times  was  that 
made  in  1869,  before  the  visit  of  the  Austrian  Emperor ; 
later  came  that  between  Jerusalem  and  Hebron,  with  a 
branch  road  to  Bethlehem,  those  between  Jerusalem  and 
Jericho,  and  between  Jerusalem  and  Ain  Karim,  all  com- 
pleted about  1889.  The  carriage  road  up  the  Mount  of 
Olives  was  made  in  1898,  and  the  existing  roads  were  further 
improved  in  preparation  for  the  visit  of  the  Emperor  of 
Germany.  The  railway  between  Jerusalem  and  Jaffa  was 
opened  in  1 892.  The  first  bicycle  seen  in  Jerusalem  appeared 
on  the  Jaffa  road  in  1898.  Motor  cars  have  been  seen  in 
Beirut,  but  have  not  yet  reached  the  Holy  City. 

This  important  year  threatened  to  end  disastrously  with 
a  drought,  and  the  anxiety  felt  upon  the  subject  of  rain  can 
scarcely  be  comprehended  except  by  those  who  have  lived 
where  there  are  no  rivers,  lakes,  nor  even  springs,  and  where 
the  water  supply  is  almost  dependent  upon  the  rain  caught 
in  the  domestic  cistern.  The  Moslems  inaugurated  a  pro- 
cession of  penitence  :  the  chief  men  of  the  city,  with  the 
Pasha,  walking  barefoot  around  the  sacred  Haram  enclosure, 
which  occupies  one-sixth  of  the  entire  city.  The  Jews,  too, 
fasted  and  prayed — let  us  hope  the  Christians  followed  suit. 
Finally,  in  despair,  the  Moslem  authorities,  who  seem  to 
preserve  a  certain  intermittent  regard  for  the  Hebrew  faith, 
appealed  to  their  fellow-sufferers  and  offered  to  the  Jews 
free  entrance  into  the  Sacred  Courts  if  they  would  assemble 
there  and  beseech  the  mercy  of  Heaven. 

This  they  declined,  but  asked  permission  to  pray  at  the 
Tomb  of  David,  a  jealously  guarded  sanctuary  of  Moslem 

365 


INNER    JERUSALEM 

fanaticism,  and  receiving  permission,  assembled  there  on 
December  17.  Before  evening  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and 
a  glorious  rainbow  spanned  the  Holy  City. 

England  also  has  sent  royal  guests  to  Jerusalem  ;  our 
present  King  accompanied  by  Dean  Stanley  in  1862;  his 
brother,  Prince  Arthur,  in  1865,  and  his  two  sons,  in 
1882 :  visits  which  resulted  in  useful  books  by  Dean  Stanley 
and  Canon  Dalton.  There  have  been  other  royal 
European  visitors,  the  German  Emperor  in  1898,  and 
his  third  son,  Prince  Adalbert  of  Prussia,  in  1901. 

The  year  1902  has  also  seen  some  distinguished  guests  : 
Prince  Windisch  Gratz  on  his  marriage  tour  with  the 
Princess  Elizabeth  Maria,  daughter  of  the  unfortunate 
Prince  Rudolph ;  and  also  the  Prince  Likomako-as,  the  Nado 
of  Abyssinia,  whose  visit  is  said  to  have  reference  to  the 
present  erection,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  new  Abyssinian 
church  and  convent,  of  a  house  of  residence  for  some  mem- 
ber of  the  royal  family.  It  is  hoped  that  their  permanent 
presence  here  may  be  of  much  benefit  to  their  fellow- 
countrymen. 

Visits  from  the  late  Marquess  of  Bute  in  1880  and  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  in  1900  will  be  long  remembered  by  the  poor  and 
by  certain  religious  institutions.  Among  the  few  other 
Englishmen  of  note  who  have  been  attracted  as  students  or 
pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City  we  may  recall  the  names  of  General 
Gordon,  Lord  Kitchener  and  Sir  Charles  Warren  ;  among 
ecclesiastics,  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  a  staunch  friend  to  the 
work  of  the  revived  Jerusalem  bishopric ;  the  Bishop  of  Argyle 
and  the  Isles,  Canon  Tristram,  Dean  Stanley  and  Professor 
Sanday.  Among  recent  visits  of  well-known  men  of  letters  it 
seems  unaccountable  that  one  should  be  able  to  name  only 
George  Adam  Smith,  to  whom  students  of  Palestine  owe  an 
immense  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  Historical  Geography ;  and 
Zangwill,  who  has  given  us  only  too  few  sketches  of  the  city 
in  which  his  father  is  a  permanent  resident.  The  visits  of 
Mrs.  Oliphant  and  Dean  Farrar  should  also  be  mentioned. 

366 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

The  first  impulse  towards  scientific  exploration  in  Palestine 
was  given  by  Dr.  Robinson  in  1838,  and  other  Americans 
soon  followed  in  his  footsteps.  In  suggestive  contrast  with 
the  more  rapid  methods  and  the  greater  self-confidence  of 
modern  times,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  had  prepared 
himself  for  his  task  by  fifteen  years  of  special  study.  Among 
the  more  important  of  his  successors  were  Lieutenant  Lynch 
in  1848,  Dr.  Barclay  in  1858,  Dr.  W.  M.  Thompson,  author 
of  the  ever-popular  work  The  Land  and  the  Book,  in  1859. 
Professor  Hackett  in  1860 — all  Americans. 

One  valuable  English  work,  The  Holy  City,  written  by 
Williams,  chaplain  to  Bishop  Alexander,  had  appeared  in 
1845,  and  Porter  had  published  interesting  descriptions 
(mainly  of  the  north  of  Palestine)  in  1855  ;  the  Germans 
were  characteristically  busy  with  details — the  Herodian 
architecture,  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat ;  Wiinsch  was 
excavating  in  Jericho  and  Capernaum,  the  French  were 
archaeologizing  in  Gyrene  when,  in  some  degree  the  result  of 
the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  1862,  the  Palestine  Explo- 
ration Fund  was  founded,  in  1865. 

Their  first  report  was  issued  in  1869,  so  that  the  Quarterly 
Statement  numbers  over  thirty  volumes.  Although  doubtless 
of  value  for  the  specialist,  a  large  amount  of  their  contents 
have  for  the  general  reader  only  the  historic  and  incomplete 
interest  of  last  year's  almanac  ;  there  are,  however,  even 
for  the  amateur,  many  chapters  of  permanent — some  of  even 
literary — interest,  notably  those  of  Dr.  Post  and  Dr.  Bliss, 
both  of  the  American  College  of  Beirut ;  of  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneau,  Chancellor  of  the  French  Consulate  in  1868,  and 
of  Philip  Baldensberger,  whose  personal  knowledge  of  the 
country  has  enabled  him  to  collect  information  of  unique 
interest  on  the  language  and  manners  of  the  people.  He  is 
one  of  an  interesting  family  of  Swiss  extraction,  other  mem- 
bers of  which  have  done  valuable  work  -of  various  kinds, 
notably  as  apiculturists,  on  very  original  lines.  They  move 
their  hives  about  the  country  on  camels,  following  up  the 

367 


INNER  JERUSALEM 

flowers  in  different  districts,  and  thus  securing  four  and  even 
five  harvests  of  honey  in  the  year. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  merely  general  reader,  however 
seriously  interested,  to  distinguish  between  achievements 
personally  attractive  and  those  of  scientific  value.  Con- 
scious of  all  that  has  been  done  by  French  and  German 
explorers,  by  the  earlier  American  pioneers,  and  by  certain 
Jerusalem  residents,  notably  Dr.  Schick  and  the  Rev.  E. 
Hanauer,  the  mere  outside  observer  would  be  inclined  to 
point  out  as  the  results  of  widest  general  consequence  the 
survey  l  which  has  provided  us  with  practicable  maps,  and 
the  publication  of  the  thirteen  volumes  of  The  Pilgrims' 
Texts,  which  have  brought  a  considerable  share  of  the 
literature  of  the  Holy  Land  within  the  reach  of  all ;  which 
have  made  it  possible  to  every  amateur  of  the  subject  to 
know  its  history  at  first  hand  during  the  thousand  years 
which  include  the  period  of  Constantine  and  Helena  and 
which  end  with  Felix  Fabri  ;  before  the  Reformation  had 
split  Westepn  faith  into  sects,  and  when  men  were  able  to 
write  simple  narratives  of  what  they  had  seen  and  heard, 
with  no  arriere  pensee  and  no  parti  pris  ;  when  no  dogma 
was  involved  in  the  identification  of  sites,  and  the  stones 
"  which  remain  unto  this  day  "  were  not  to  be  dismissed 
as  deliberate  frauds,  or  explained  away  as  monuments  of 
party  politics  and  religious  superstition. 

By  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Macalistcr,  the  present  repre- 
sentative of  the  Fund  in  Palestine,  I  am  able  to  give  a  sum- 
mary of  what  has  been  accomplished  in  the  matter  of  prac- 
tical archaeology. 

1  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  the  first  traveller  to  make  a 
map  of  the  country  was  the  pilgrim  John  Poloner  (1421).  The  first 
Palestine  Survey  was  made  by  the  Franciscan  Bernardino  in  1516. 
It  is  said  to  be  singularly  accurate  as  to  measurements.  The  latest, 
with  every  advantage  of  modern  methods  and  scientific  precision, 
is  now  in  course  of  publication  by  the  Germans.  It  will,  it  is  hoped, 
supplement  and  correct  the  many  omissions  and  inaccuracies  of  that 
of  the  P.E.F.,  inevitable  in  an  earliest  attempt. 

368 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

I.  Excavations  at  Tell    el-Hesy    [Lachish]  by  Professor 
Flinders  Petrie  and  (afterwards)  by  Dr.  Bliss  of  the  American 
College  in  Beirut. 

Chief  Results. — The  determination  of  the  history  of  pottery 
in  the  country,  affording  a  chronological  scale  by  which  to> 
date  all  subsequent  discoveries. 

II.  Excavations  in  and  about  Jerusalem  by  Dr.  Bliss  and 
Mr.  A.  C.  Dickie. 

Chief  Results. — Determination  of  ancient  southern  limit 
of  the  city  at  various  periods,  discovery  of  church  at  so-called 
Pool  of  Siloam  and  of  other  important  buildings. 

III.  Excavation  by  Dr.  Bliss,  assisted  by  Mr.  Macalister, 
of  Tells  (i.e.  mounds  of  accumulated  debris). 

(a)  Tell  Zakariya  (Azekah  ?). 
(6)  Tell  es  Safi  (Gath). 

(c)  Tell  Judeideh  (unidentified). 

(d)  Tell  Sandahannah  (Merash). 

IV.  Excavations  at  Tell  ej-Jezari  (Gezer)  by  Mr.  Mac- 
alister. 

Chief  Results  so  far. — The  determination  of  the  period  of 
Egyptian  influence  in  Palestine  and  of  pre-Israelite  methods- 
of  disposal  of  the  dead.  Discovery  of  Canaanite  temple. 

This  site,  originally  identified  by  Clermont  Ganneau  in 
1868,  has  proved  to  be  of  extreme  interest,  though  not  per- 
haps as  contributing  to  the  "  Biblical  illustration  "  which  is- 
the  avowed  object  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  which 
may  account  for  the  fact  that  the  published  accounts  of  Mr. 
Macalister's  valuable  discoveries  have  not  the  detail  and 
fulness  of  illustration  which  the  archaeologist,  as  distinguished 
from  the  religious  teacher,  might  desire.  The  discovery  of 
a  temple  of  Astarte,  with  all  its  properties  and  historical 
suggestions,  seems  indeed  a  little  incongruous  with  the  pre- 
vious work  of  the  Fund,  and  has  already  been  criticized  as 
affording  "  a  surprising  lack  of  antiquities  of  the  Jewish  or 
later  periods."  The  antiquarian  and  historian  will  be  not 
the  less  grateful  for  contributions  to  the  knowledge  of 

369  BB 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

manners  and  customs,  of  faith  and  morals  of  the  inhabitant 
of  Syria  before  the  first  Hebrew  invasion  ;  how  women 
looked  before  Helen  of  Troy,  how  priests  worshipped  before 
Aaron,  how  cities  were  built  before  Thebes,  how  sanitation 
was  practised  before  Leviticus,  how  the  world  lived  when  the 
Sphinx  and  the  pyramids  were  young. 

It  would  seem,  however,  as  if  the  future  of  Palestine 
archaeology  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  Their  rela- 
tion to  the  country,  to  its  agriculture,  its  commerce,  its  postal 
service  and  its  architecture,  its  education,  their  foundation 
of  the  only  European  archaeological  institution  in  Palestine, 
with  specialist  professors  of  distinction  sent  out  from 
Germany,  and,  perhaps,  above  all,  the  work  they  have 
already  accomplished,  enable  them  to  secure  firmans  of 
permission  to  excavate  such  as  seem  impossible  to  other 
European  powers.  They  have  even  secured  protection  for 
their  completed  work — a  priceless  boon  in  a  country  where 
excavation  is  regarded  by  the  natives  mainly  as  affording 
them  a  convenient  quarry  of  stones  already  prepared  for 
use.  At  Baalbek,  where  within  the  last  three  or  four  years 
they  have  uncovered  and  restored  to  a  condition  of  security 
one  of  the  most  perfect  and  extensive  ruins  in  existence  of 
the  Graeco-Semitic  type,  there  is  provision  for  its  permanent 
preservation,  not  only  in  the  existence  of  an  enclosure,  but 
of  a  marble  slab  which  places  the  spot  under  the  aegis  of 
two  Powers  ;  declaring  in  Arabic  and  German  that  the 
memorial  is  placed  by  the  Sultan  Abd-el-Hamid  II,  hi  tes- 
timony of  his  immutable  friendship  with  his  illustrious 
friend  the  Emperor  Wilhelm  II  and  (notable  words  from  a 
Moslem)  with  the  Empress  Augusta  Victoria,  and  in  memory 
of  their  visit  to  Baalbek  in  November,  1898.  The  immense 
work  is  still  in  progress,  under  the  auspices  of  four  university 
men,  each  a  specialist  in  his  own  line,  headed  by  an  architect 
of  high  distinction.  They  employ  some  two  hundred  work- 
men, and  have  every  mechanical  convenience,  including 
tramways  for  the  complete  removal  of  debris — a  pleasing 

370 


contrast  to  the  usual  method  of  carrying  a  few  pounds  at  a 
time  to  the  very  short  distance  possible  on  the  heads  of 
women  and  girls,  in  baskets  and  kerosene  tins. 

At  Tell  el-mutesellim,  the  ancient  Megiddo,  the  excavations 
are  now  hi  the  hands  of  the  German  Society  for  the  Explor- 
ation of  Palestine.  The  spot  is  of  unique  importance  as  the 
junction  of  the  highways  of  the  nations  of  antiquity.  An 
ancient  walled  city  has  been  found  at  the  hitherto  unpre- 
cedented depth  of  forty  feet.  Two  painted  vases,  still  entire, 
have  been  unearthed  among  the  debris  of  5,000  years,  and 
among  minor  objects  a  seal,  which,  if  it  be,  as  is  probable, 
that  of  Jeroboam  II,  is  the  oldest  Hebrew  inscription  extant. 

Other  important  work  under  the  personal  protection  of 
the  Emperor  of  Germany  is  in  progress  near  Zahleh  in  the 
Lebanon,  at  Palmyra,  and  Amman  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Ammonites.  The  most  ancient  specimen  of  Christian  archi- 
tecture known  to  exist  is  the  ancient  Mshetta,  south-east 
of  Madeba,  east  of  Jordan,  which  has  been  presented  by  the 
Sultan  to  the  Emperor.  The  fa9ade,  a  unique  specimen 
of  early  art,  has  been  cut  away  entire  from  the  crumbling 
wall  of  stone  and  removed  for  safe  keeping  to  Berlin, 
instead  of,  as  would  otherwise  happen,  if  preserved  at  all,  to 
Constantinople. 

The  Russians  have  been  working  at  Palmyra,  and  have 
been  permitted  to  remove  a  customs  tariff  of  the  time  of 
Hadrian. 

The  Austrians  have  been  excavating  at  Taanak,  and  have 
made  discoveries  of  supreme  interest,  including  the  very  rare 
find  of  an  altar  of  incense. 

Now  that  both  Germany  and  America  have  permanent 
archaeological  schools  in  Jerusalem  for  the  training  of  future 
archaeologists,  who  will  begin  their  work  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  of  its  language,  we  may  hope  for  a  more 
systematic  investigation  of  the  treasures  of  Syria — treasures 
of  so  many  races,  so  many  cycles  and  so  many  creeds — than 
has  hitherto  been  in  any  degree  possible. 

371 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

In  Jerusalem,  as  may  have  been  gathered,  the  main 
interest  of  educated  society  centres  round  the  past,  a  subject 
upon  which  I  might  indefinitely  enlarge  if  my  initial  under- 
taking had  not  been  that  I  would  not  worry  my  reader  with 
discussion  on  points  such  as  where  Absalom's  tomb  isn't, 
a  type  of  discussion  which,  even  here,  is  in  ninety-nine  cases 
out  of  a  hundred  absolutely  unprofitable,  because  it  is, 
except  among  a  few  of  the  small  number  who  possess  any 
archaeological  knowledge,  entirely  unconnected  with  any 
genuine  antiquarian,  historical,  or  even  religious  interest. 
The  dispassionate  reader  can  have  no  conception  of  the 
extent  to  which,  in  this  connexion,  a  sane  adult  can 
utterly  refuse  all  inquiry  into  history,  archaeology,  proba- 
bility, testimony,  to  what  degree  he  can  abandon  himself  to 
his  f  eelings,  lest  he  should  be  accused  of  being  emotional ;  to 
hearsay  evidence,  lest  he  should  be  suspected  of  lending  an 
ear  to  tradition  ;  to  the  testimony  of  his  senses,  lest  he  should 
have  to  reproach  himself  with  being  too  readily  convinced. 

To  such  a  one  the  holy  places  of  Jerusalem,  which  are 
indeed  of  very  various  degrees  of  merit  so  far  as  the  evidence 
for  their  authenticity  is  concerned,1  make  no  appeal.  They 

1  The  only  sites  which  have  never  been  seriously  questioned  are 
those  of  the  Temple  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem. 
Most  of  the  stations  of  the  Via  Dolorosa  have  many  times  changed 
their  whereabouts.  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  built  by 
Helena  and  Constantino  on  the  site  preserved  by  the  desecration  of 
Hadrian  (who  placed  an  image  of  Venus  on  the  traditional  Calvary, 
of  Jupiter  on  the  traditional  Holy  Sepulchre)  was  first  questioned 
by  a  German  named  Jonas  Korten,  who  visited  Jerusalem  in  1738, 
and  afterwards  by  a  certain  Dr.  Clarke,  who  spent  seventeen  days 
in  Palestine  in  1801,  and  wrote  a  book  a  year  later.  Between  1840 
and  1876  sixteen  theories  were  advanced;  twelve  critics  argued 
from  their  various  points  of  view  in  favour  of  the  original  site  ;  four 
against,  one  of  whom,  the  learned  Dr.  Schick,  the  only  one  resident 
in  Jerusalem  and  really  familiar  with  its  topography,  subsequently 
changed  his  opinion  and  advanced  a  seventeenth  theory,  in 
favour  of  the  original  tradition.  The  Rev.  E.  Hanauer,  upon  whom 
Schick's  mantle  has  undoubtedly  fallen,  is  Iso  in  favour  of  the 
tradition  of  sixteen  hundred  years.  The  alleged  sites  of  Bethesda, 

372 


THE    HUMANITIES   IN   JERUSALEM 

are  mere  rags  of  popery,  their  traditions,  though  they  may 
date  back  to  times  when  there  was  not  a  Latin  priest  in 
Palestine,  even  before  the  separation  of  the  Church  into 
eastern  and  western  branches,  are  nevertheless  mere  inven- 
tions on  behalf  of  "  the  scarlet  woman."  To  such  Gordon's 
tomb  is  a  god-send,  and  the  Green  Hill  the  apology  for  his 
presence  in  Jerusalem.  One  may  explain  that  the  one  is  a 
crusading  stable,  and  that  the  other  owes  its  alleged  likeness 
to  a  skull  to  the  fact  of  a  modern  stone  quarry,  and  the 
presence  of  a  couple  of  cisterns ;  but  to  him  it  is  the  flag  of 
Protestantism,  a  corollary  of  his  possession  of  the  English 
tongue. 

Beyond  the  colouring  of  the  mosque  and  the  fa§ade  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  there  is  nothing  of  artistic  beauty  in  Jeru- 
salem. The  charm  is  in  colour,  not  in  form,  in  association, 
in  the  persistence  of  historic  custom,  in  the  psychology  of 
the  Oriental.  The  large  new  suburbs  of  the  Jews  are  ugly 
and  purely  utilitarian,  those  of  the  Germans  have  the  irrele- 
vant prettiness  of  a  model  village.  The  English  have  spent 
incredible  sums  upon  a  hospital  for  the  bodies  and  a  church 
for  the  souls  of  the  Jews,  with  results  which  are  gratifying 
neither  to  the  artist  nor  to  the  utilitarian.  The  Collegiate 
Church  of  S.  George,  a  fraction  of  a  building  intended  to  be 
of  the  proportions  of  Oxford  Cathedral,  goes  far  to  atone  for 
failure  elsewhere.  The  modern  French  buildings  of  the 
Dominicans  (S.  Etienne),  in  spite  of  French  taste  in  stained 
glass,  are  pleasing  of  their  kind  ;  the  restored  Church  of 

Siloam,  the  site  of  the  Ascension,  the  spot  where  "  Jesus  wept," 
Bethphage,  the  scene  of  the  Flagellation,  the  House  of  John  Mark, 
have  all  been  preserved,  with  many  others,  by  Crusading  Churches, 
on  spots  venerated  by  pilgrims  of  the  fourth  century.  The  church, 
of  which  some  remains  still  exist,  built  on  the  alleged  site  of  the 
";large  upper  room,"  is  probably  the  oldest  sanctuary  in  Jerusalem. 
Except  for  perhaps  a  year  or  two,  when  the  Christians  withdrew 
to  Pel  la,  there  must  always  have  been  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  and 
the  Oriental  has  the  material  kind  of  mind  which  clings  to  ocular 
demonstration  and  is  as  well  aware,  as  in  Bible  times,  when  the 
stones  remain  there  to  his  own  day. 

873 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

S.  Anne  follows  early  Crusading  lines,  and  has  considerable 
archaeological  interest ;  the  tiled  chapel  of  Notre  Dame  de 
France  is  effective  hi  colouring  ;  the  large  church  built  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  Reparatrices  is  coldly  handsome. 
The  decorations  of  the  Greek  churches  are  beneath  criticism 
— crotchet,  patchwork,  Christmas-tree  balls  and  artificial 
flowers  ;  in  the  Russian  alone  one  finds  art,  sometimes  of 
really  high  quality.  There  are  beautiful  and  costly  objects, 
amid  much  that  is  crude,  in  the  Armenian  Church  of  S. 
James ;  and  the  new  Lutheran  Church  of  the  Redeemer  has 
much  purity  and  dignity  of  outline. 

The  new  Moslem  suburb  is  pleasing  so  far,  though  getting 
perilously  near  to  the  type  mysteriously  called  "  Queen 
Anne,"  from  which,  however,  it  may  be  ultimately  preserved 
by  Oriental  love  of  space  and  sense  of  dignity. 

It  is  difficult  to  the  mere  onlooker  to  conjecture  why,  unless 
from  some  inherent  idleness  or  local  superstition,  certain 
Europeans  who  have  been  for  some  fifty  years  educators 
in  Jerusalem  (although,  happily,  the  Moslems  have  more  than 
overtaken  them),  should  cling  to  the  idea  that  to  occident- 
alize  is  a  part  of  the  process  of  instructing  the  Oriental.  The 
Franciscans,  however,  have  for  centuries  taught  Arabic  to 
Arabs,  combined  with  technical  instruction  and  the  acquisi- 
tion of  modern  languages  in  cases  where  such  were  likely  to  be 
of  use.  The  White  Fathers  not  only  seek  to  elevate  the 
Oriental  in  his  own  surroundings,  but  they  share  his  life, 
even  to  the  extent  of  themselves  wearing  the  Bedouin  bour- 
nous  and  the  Turkish  tarbush.  In  the  American  schools  the 
study  of  three  languages  is  compulsory  ;  one  of  which  must 
be  Arabic  with  its  literature  and  philosophy ;  a  second  the 
native  language  of  the  student,  if  he  be  other  than  Syrian, 
such  as  Armenian,  Greek,  Hebrew,  etc.;  while  the  third  may 
be  European  or  classical.  In  the  Jewish  schools  of  the 
higher  class,  the  Rothschild,  Cohen  or  Alliance  Israelite, 
Hebrew  is  compulsory,  combined  with  English,  German,  or 
French  respectively.  In  the  great  German  orphanages  the 

374 


BEDAWI  MAN  AND  WOMAN. 


THE    HUMANITIES   IN   JERUSALEM 

children  are  instructed  in  Arabic,  which  is  also  the  language 
they  use  among  themselves.  The  English  schools,  however, 
for  some  inscrutable  reason,  are  conducted  on  the  theory 
that  the  Arabs  or  Jews,  as  the  case  may  be,  although  their 
ultimate  destiny  will  almost  inevitably  be  to  marry  Arabs 
or  Jews,  to  live  among  them,  and  to  lead  the  lives  of  the 
native  population,  will  be  the  better  for  being  temporarily 
Anglicized,  for  speaking  English  with  the  mincing  Levantine 
accent,  which  is  what  most  of  them  acquire,  and  for  learning 
English  Church  history !  English  trades,  laundry-work, 
washing,  mending,  cooking,  scrubbing,  sanitation  enter  but 
scantily,  if  at  all,  into  the  bill  of  fare,  though  possibly  of  a 
nature  more  easily  digested,  as  well  as  more  nourishing,  than 
the  diet  supplied.  The  Arab  is  extraordinarily  receptive 
and  observant,  and  utterly  destitute  of  the  mauvaise  honte 
which  so  often  hinders  the  utilization  of  such  acquirements  ; 
his  very  faults  and  failures  are  of  special  interest  to  the 
student  of  human  nature. 

It  has  been  our  privilege  to  read  the  papers  produced  at 
the  examination  of  a  certain  school  of  the  better  type,  and 
we  have  found  them  so  suggestive,  so  instructive  in  the 
workings  of  the  Arab  mind,  that  I  venture  to  reproduce  a 
few  notes  illustrating  the  effect  of  (more  or  less)  useful 
knowledge  upon  the  Oriental  understanding.  To  what  end 
are  they  instructed  in  Greek  mythology,  in  the  use  of  special- 
ist or  archaic  English  words,  in  the  morals  of  the  English 
monarchy,  the  physiology  of  the  rabbit,  a  beast  unknown 
in  Palestine,  in  the  relations  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra  ?  is 
the  kind  of  question  one  would  put  in  an  examination  paper 
for  teachers.  A  compulsory  examination  for  teachers,  in 
religion  and  arts,  would  work  some  very  astounding  revolu- 
tions in  Jerusalem. 

Certain  surprising  statements  as  to  New  Testament 
history  may  possibly  have  been  due  to  the  authorship  of 
Jews  or  Mohammedans.  "St.  Mark  appears  first  time 
to  the  disciples  at  Antioch.  His  parents  were  Zecharias  and 

375 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

Sapphira  or  Mary.  He  wrote  also  the  Gospel  of  Revelation.'* 
Another  boy  writes  :  "  St.  Mark  made  a  school,  put  boys  to 
learn  fighting  as  brave  as  ever  can  be."  "  St.  John  was  put 
in  prison  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  and  there  he  wrote  the  whole 
history  of  Jerusalem."  "  When  Saul's  asses  fled  away  he  was 
told  that  the  asses  were  upon  the  hills,  so  he  went,  and  on 
the  way  the  Lord  appeared,  and  said,  '  Saul,  Saul,  percutest 
thou  me  ?  so  he  fell  upon  his  face,  and  began  to  prophesy 
with  the  prophets  that  were  upon  the  hill."  "St.  John 
was  the  youngest  of  the  Lord's  disciples.  He  was  all  the 
time  with  Him  and  he  wrote  more  than  the  others  because 
he  used  to  see  everything  in  his  eye,  but  the  others  did  not 
see  but  heard."  Among  the  plagues  of  Egypt  are  men- 
tioned "  Turning  the  water  into  wine,  ashes  in  the  air,  tor- 
toises, and  lies."  The  last  no  one  will  dispute. 

Sometimes  one  finds  curious  uses  of  language.  The 
following  are  mistakes  arising  out  of  such  confusion  of  sound 
or  of  memory  as  might  occur  in  the  case  of  any  student  of  a 
foreign  tongue.  Milliner  is  a  man  who  works  in  a  mill  ; 
stoic  is  a  kind  of  stick ;  hansom  is  not  connected  with  hand  or 
some,  but  handsome,  of  fine  appearance  ;  proxy  is  a  kind 
of  verse  called  prose  ;  the  feminine  of  lad  is  ass,  and  the 
masculine  of  siren  is  sir. 

Even  the  beginner  in  Arabic  must  see  that  something 
more  complex  is  involved  in  the  following  definitions,  given 
by  those  accustomed  to  a  language  in  which  all  thought  is 
visual,  in  which  everything  seems  to  bring  up  an  image  of 
some  kind.  "  Easel,  a  kind  of  stand  ;  it  comes  from  the 
German  Esel,  which  means  ass,  hence  the  word  means  a 
stand  to  hang  things  on."  Does  not  the  schoolboy  of  Jeru- 
salem a  score  of  times  a  day  see  the  patient  donkey,  laden 
with  saddle-bags,  waiting  to  have  things  hung  in  them  ? 
Could  the  boy  who  said,  "  The  bustard  is  a  drunkered,"  have, 
by  chance,  seen  an  English  tourist  "  on  the  bust  "  ?  There 
is  unconscious  satire  in  the  definition  of  Bedlamite  as  "  half 
a  goat,  and  half  a  lion,  from  bedellium,  a  monster  of  the 

37G 


A  THRKSHING  FLOOR. 


THE    HUMANITIES    IN   JERUSALEM 

'Greeks . "  "  Bayonet,>f  rom  Bayonne ,  was  a  minister  of  France , 
who  was  very  strict,"  suggests  that  the  minister  had  a  trick 
of  practical  expression  more  familiar  in  Turkey  than  in 
France  ;  "  Buxom  is  from  bow.  A  buxom  boy  is  an  obedient 
boy  because  he  can  easily  be  bent" ;  "lynch  law  is  a  very 
sever  law  written  in  blood  by  an  Athenian  legislator."  "  A 
constable  is  with  the  stable,  who  gives  horses  to  eat." 
"  Heaven  is  the  hanged  one,  the  upper  part."  Some  vague 
association  with  the  shank  bone  may  have  suggested  that 
"  the  human  body  is  1st  trunk,  2nd  shrunk,  3rd  extremities. 
The  extremities  is  the  remainder  of  the  body."  "  Posseidon 
is  the  god  of  the  downward  thing,"  and  "  the  rabbit  is  an 
outside  beast."  "  A  diving  bell  is  the  ways  of  the  water 
through  the  houses  by  canals  or  tubes  made  of  iron.'* 
Water  "  laid  on  "  is  a  very  rare  luxury  in  Jerusalem,  and 
the  boy  had  probably  been  struck  by  seeing  tubes  full  of 
water,  diving  underground.  "  Panic  is  a  kind  of  disease,  so 
when  they  say  he  is  panic-stricken  it  means  that  he  is 
diseased."  "  Gasconading  is  a  man  who  visited  the  palaces 
of  the  king  of  France  and  said,  '  The  stables  of  my  father 
is  better  than  this,  only  somewhat  larger.' '  Artichoke  is 
' '  a  kind  of  plant  that  grows  in  Jerusalem  to  make  dinners 
and  suppers  from." 

One  can  only  sympathize  with  the  boy  who  wrote  that 
"  loathing  is  water  half  hot,  half  cold."  We  all  know  that 
variety  of  loathing. 

A  delightful  touch  of  visualization  associates  widows  with 
black.  A  boy  thus  describes  the  memorial  service  of  Queen 
Victoria  :  "In  the  English  church  people  were  English, 
French,  Greeks,  Abyssinians,  Widows  and  Jews.  The 
English  were  praying  for  the  Queen." 

The  spelling  of  Arabic  is  strictly  phonetic,  which  may 
account  for  the  peculiarities  of  the  following.  "  I  was  in  the 
school,  and  after  came  Amil  tolthus  (told  us  ;  the  Arabs  never 
stint  an  h)  come  and  see  Jabra,  and  we  toll  them,  my ! 
wat  tis  demater  ?  he  toll-dus  the  turques  beet  him  with  the 

377 


INNER   JERUSALEM 

nii'e  ;  how  many  boys  was  ?  and  toll-dus  2  boys  ;  and  toil 
them  were  are  they  ?  and  toll  them  went  to  the  gate  and 
Master  toll  to  Nicola  to  go  and  bring  the  bulish  (police)  and 
he  went  and  brotit  in  the  scool  and  rot  (wrote)  his  name, 
and  after  come  his  brother  and  see  him.  His  hand  wass  terr 
(tore)  and  took  him  home." 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  rabbit's  adaptation  to 
environment.  "  The  rabbit  is  like  the  fox,  change  of  colour 
of  his  fur  in  the  towns  cold,  from  the  ashes  colour  to  white. 
In  the  summer  it  will  be  an  ashes  colour  till  the  winter  ;  in 
the  winter  and  in  the  beginning  of  November  his  fur  will 
become  white,  and  the  white  continued  to  grow  allitill 
till  his  skin  will  be  covered  and  will  be  sow  some  weeks ; 
then  will  changed ;  and  it  is  the  last  which  became 
white  from  his  body,  then  his  bowls  will  be  changed,  and 
his  back  also,  till  his  body  changed  and  he  will  be  all  his 
colour  ashes  and  no  place  white."  "  Thomas  a  Becket  was 
a  priest  and  got  married  to  a  Mohammedan  girl,  and  it  is 
said  that  it  is  quite  certain  that  he  went  to  heaven." 

There  is  a  fine  Oriental  flavour  in  the  accounts  of  Henry 
VIII.  "  He  quarrelled  with  the  Pope  because  he  was 
engaged  to  a  wife  and  he  took  another  one."  "  He  took 
six  wives,  some  he  killed  some  he  executed,  and  some  he  gave 
to  his  generals."  "Henry  was  a  very  strong  man  and  he 
married  six  wives.  Some  of  them  were  executed  and  some 
of  them  were  died,  but  the  last  was  survived  on  her  husband, 
and  they  were  Katherine,  Anne  was  executed.  Jane  Grey 
of  Aragon,  Katherine,  and  the  last  Katherine,  which  sur- 
vived on  her  husband."  Asked  "  What  do  you  know  of 
Antony  and  Cleopatra  ?  "  a  boy  replies,  "  Instead  of  at- 
tacking her  he  was  fashanated  by  her  beauty."  Another 
adds,  "  It  was  a  great  shame  for  the  Romans  so  Octavius 
came  to  attack  him  and  Cleopatrera." 

Those  who  have  to  endure  the  inconsequence  of  the 
Mohammedan  calendar,  which  varies  eleven  or  twelve  days  in 
every  year,  would  naturally  appreciate  the  virtue  of  Caesar, 

378 


GOOD  MEASURE,  TRESSED  DOWN  AND  SHAKEN  TOGETHER,  AND 
RUNNING  OVER." 

S.  LUKE  vr.  38. 


THE    HUMANITIES   IN   JERUSALEM 

who  was  "  a  man  of  high  spirit,  who  composed  the  Calendar 
and  he  dived  the  year  into  365  days,  knowing  the  times  and 
the  years  ;  and  this  shows  that  he  was  a  great  man  and  very 
clever  about  reforming  the  Calendar." 

It  is  interesting  to  know  what  the  young  Arab  has  to  say 
about  the  horse.  As  might  be  expected,  he  is  held  in  high 
esteem. 

"  The  horse  is  a  beautiful  animal  of  those  that  have  four 
legs,  he  is  bigger  than  the  donkey.  His  ears  are  erect.  He 
is  a  beautiful  animal.  The  people  use  him  for  riding 
drawing  carriages,  carts  and  for  driving  mills,1  sometimes 
for  carreeing  things."  Or  again,  "  The  horse  is  the  largest 
animal  in  the  world ;  he  has  long  ears,  he  has  a  long  feet 
and  they  are  bone  "  (this,  I  suspect,  is  not  the  scientific  state- 
ment of  the  real  whereabouts  of  the  ankle,  about  which  so 
many  are  in  error,  but  that  "  feet  "  is  merely  used  for 
"legs  "),  "he  has  a  long  tail,  his  head  is  very  big,  he  is  a  high 
animal,  and  his  back  is  broode,  he  can  run  faster  than  the 
camel." 

One  feels  that  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  has  lost  in  com- 
plexity when  one  reads  that  "  its  general  character  is  that 
it  was  neatly  written  under  the  influence  of  Moses,"  and  a 
truly  Arabic  talent  for  "  getting  out  of  it  "  appears  in  reply 
to  the  question,  "  What  are  the  contents  of  the  book  of 
LeviticusJ  "  "  Its  contents  are  many  things  " — a  criticism 
which  may  be  very  suitably  applied  to  the  present  volume  ! 

1  It  is  melancholy  to  see  the  horse  or  donkey  on  the  treadmill, 
the  last  sad  occupation  of  the  broken-down. 


379 


INDEX 


Abyssinians,  88,  109, 110, 120-122, 

128,  164 

Ain  Karim,  21,  76,  355 
America  and  American,  212, 215.  See 
Consul,  Cranks,  Missionaries 
archaeology,  2,  4 
College,  Beirut,  86,  90, 190,  197 

—  Colony,  5,  35,  41-46,  237 
education,  90,  190 

—  and  Latins,  92,  149,  158 
press,  237,  239 

—  quakers,  5 

Anglican  Church.     See  English 
Anglo-Israelites,  38 
Animals,   26,   47,  48,   76,   77,   214, 
286,  287,  337-49 

—  cruelty  to,  47,  214,  336 
Arab  and  Arabic.     See  Moslem 

t,    Christian  19,  213,  234,  325,  326 

—  convents  in,  85 

—  colour,  love  of,  233 

—  cooking,  20 

—  cursing,  29,  235 

—  customs,  19,  181,  261,  325 

—  dress,  19,  234 

—  education,  85,  158,  255,  374 

—  flowers,  love  of,  27 

—  homes,  19 

—  language,   9,   10,  77,  230,   232, 

234,  374 

—  levantine,  4,   6,  234,  260,  323, 

375 

—  literature,  237,  238 

—  music,  22 

—  race,  47,  230 

—  sportsman,  210 
women's  rights,  255 

Archaeology : 

—  American,  2,  4,11,367-68,371, 

374 

—  Austrian,  371 

—  English,  4,  125,   126.      And  see 

P.  E.  F. 


Archaeology,  continued — 

—  German,   2,  4,   77,  132,  367-68, 

370-71 
instruction  in,  11,  160] 

—  Latin,    11,    77,    158,    160,    161, 

247,  368 

—  Russian,  2,  371 

—  questions  of,  1,  77 
Archimandrite.     See  Russia 
Armenians,  88,  89,  109,   110,  112, 

115-18,   121,   128,  143,  151, 
164,  178 
Austria,  209,  371 

Baalbek,  370 
Baksheesh,  48,  49,  236 
Bees.     See  Baldensberger. 
Bible,  113,  114,  160 
Bethlehem.     See    Church  of    Na- 
tivity. 

—  and  Omar,  228 

Cawasses  (or  cavasses),  3,  7,  83,  98 
Cholera,  53,  54 
Churches,  373,  374 

St.  Anne,  126,  293,  294,  331 

Ascension,  291 

Bethany,  331 

Bethphage,  150 

Byzantine,    or    pre-Byzantme, 

120,  198 

C.M.S.,  14,  199,  203 
Christ,  198,  199,  373 
Coenaculum,  147,  150,  292,  331, 

332 

Dominus  floevit,  13,  150 
Emmaus,  332 
flagellation,  150 
St.    George,    14,    80,    194,    197, 

198,  231,  264,  373 
Holy  Sepulchre,  13,  17,  81,  87, 
88,  89,  92,  94,  95,  105,  135, 
156,  165,  227,  330,  331,  332 


380 


INDEX 


Churches,  continued — 

St.  Mary  Latin,  140 
,,          ,,      Minor,  141 

Nativity,  92-05,  138,  139,  150, 
181,  228,  331 

Notre  Dame,  13 

Pater,  13,  75,  164,  333 

Redeemer,  13 

Re'paratrices,  165 

.Resurrection,  13,  135,  330,  333 
See  Holy  Sepulchre 

St.  Saviour,  13,  149 

St.  Stephen,  331 

Tomb  of  our  Lady,   128,    150, 
292,  294,  331 

St.  Veronica,  164 
Consuls  and  Consulates,  360,  364 

America,  7,  49 

Austria,  7 

England,  6,  7,  48,  49,  155,   210 

France,   7,  50,  94,  95,  96,   155 
et  seq.,  169,  360,  361 

General,  6 

Germany,  6,  49,  155 

Greece,  7 

Holland,  7 

Italy,  155 

Russia,  7,  89 

Sardinia,  50,  155 

Spain,  7,  360 
Consular  law,  49,  97 
Convents.     See  Latin. 

St.  Anne,  113 

Assumptionist,  14,  113 

Benedictine.  13,  138  et  seq.,  144 

Carmelite,  13 

Coenaculum,  147 

Dominican,  14,   113 

Earliest,  125,  137,  144 

Franciscan   (St.   Saviour's),    13, 
145-53,  167 

Georgian,  148 

Greek,  82,  137 

Mar  Saba,  139 

St.  Mary  Latin,  14,  140 
,,     ,,      Minor,  141 

Russian,  79 
Coinage,  17,  30 
Copts,  89,  109,  110,  115,  121, 

122,  123,  128 
Cranks,  3,  35-46,  152 
Crusades,   48,    143,   144,   145,   180, 

186,  197,  220 
Cursing,  29,  235,  236 

Dragomans,  49,  213,  216,  217,  221 
East,  2,  18,  266-68 


England  and  English,  60,  70,  72, 
73,  97,  181,  215,  218,  238, 
260.  And  see  Archaeology, 
Consul. 

—  Arab  views  of,  212,  215 

—  Architecture,   198,  264,  284 

—  Bethlehem,  in,  203 

—  Beit  Jala,  in,  203 

—  Bishopric,  mixed,  187,  189,  191 

„       revived,  193 

—  blind,  care  of,  68 

—  Church,  187,  193-208 

—  Conversions  by,  64-69,  202 

—  Eye-hospital,  10,  18,  68,  177 

—  Hospital  for  Conversion  of  Jews, 

67,  199,  373 
-  hospitality,  189,  205 

—  law,  administration  of,  49 

—  pilgrims,  181,  182 

—  position    of,     189,     100,     197; 

„  „     former,  359 

—  relations  with  Jews,  180-86 

—  responsibility  for,  203 

„  how  fulfilled,   186, 

189,  197,  198 

—  schools,  194, 197,  203,  206,  207r 

359 

—  trade,  132,  185,  209 

—  travellers,  33,  212-16,  366 

—  women,  217,  218,  258,261,325 

Firmans,  84,  141,  146,  148,  150, 
156-57,  162,  163 

—  of  Statu  quo,  93,  94,  157 
Flowers,  12,  17,  23,  26,  27,  63 
Food,  3,  32,  163.  And  see  Moslem. 
France.     See  Consuls. 

—  influence  of,  155,  188,  191,  247 

—  and  Jews,  9 

—  protectorate  of,  91,  93, 155,  156, 

164,  169,  170,  175,  189 

—  recognition  of,  156,  157 

—  and  Russia,  91,  92 

—  Schools.     See  Latin 

—  trade,  209 

George,  St.,  120,  129,  130,  243-44. 

And  see  Churches. 
Georgians,  88,  105,  148 
German.     See    Archaeology, 

suls 

—  agriculture,  40,  50 

—  Church,  91,  200 

—  Colony,  5,  35,  41 

—  colonization,  38,  209 

—  Emperor's  visit,  5,  91 

—  hospice,  158,  206 


381 


INDEX 


Geiman,  continued — 

institutions,  5,  39,  68,    91,  '97, 
189,  199,  203,  231 

—  Jews,  9 

—  Latins,  158,  164,  174,  176 

-  lectures,  11 

-  law,  how  administered,  49,  97, 

155,  176 

—  schools,  5,  39,  91,  197,  203 

—  trade,  9,  39,  50,  209 
Gordon's     Calvary.     Also    Protes- 
tant Calvary.     14,  37 

Government,47-54.  And  see  Schools. 

-  alternatives  to,  97,  299 

-  characteristics  of,  47 

-  hospital,  45,  91,  160,  244 

—  machinery  of,  50,  51,  54 

-  prisons,  45,  54,  244 

-  schools,  45,  237,  244 

-  tolerance  of,  47,  49 
Greek  and  Greeks,  98-130 

-  Anglicans  and  99,  100,  123-26 

-  Arabs  and,  85,  86 

-  austerity  of,  128,  129 

-  Bishops,  101 

-  Church  of,  103,  104,  115,  127 

-  clergy,  104,  105 

-  convents,  106 

—  Councils,  99,  100,  101,  118,  163 

-  foundation  of,  99,  103 

-  heresies  of  99,  115-30 

—  holy  fire,  81,  88,  107-13 

-  Hospital,  106 

—  hymns,  357 

-  orthodoxy,    89,    99,    100,    102, 

115,  142,  143 

-  patriarch,  85,  87,  88,  103,  109, 

112,  143,  185 

-  philanthropy,  106 

-  rites,  127,  129 

—  Russia,  relations  with,  85,  86,  87 

-  schools,  86,  105,   106,  197,  199 

—  trade,  9 

Heresy  and  Schism,  115 — 30 

—  of  American  Colony,  46 

-  of  Eastern  Church,  88,   100 

—  of  English  missionaries,  195,  198 
Holy    Places,     136-37,    372.     And 

see  Churches. 
Bethesda,  294,  335 
Bethlehem,        203.        And     see 

Church  of  the  Nativity. 
Betrayal,  scene  of  the,  293 

—  disputes  about,  77,  93,  94,  96, 

99,  128,  138,  150,  167-79   '  \ 

-  evidence  for,  135,  217,  292,  293 

And  see  Fathers 


Holy  Places,  continued — 

Gethsemane,  89 

Guardians.     See  Franciscans 

Mizpah,  292 

Siloam,  95 

Tomb  of  Rachael,  292 

Via  Dolorosa,  164 
Hospices,  205,  364 

—  earliest,  106,  137,  138,  149 

—  Franciscan,  84,  149 

—  French,  13 

—  German,  158,  206 

—  Gobat  upon,  205 

—  Greek,  82 

—  hospitality  of,  149-50 

—  Russian,  12,  76,  89 

Insect  pests,  17,  24,  25 
Institutions  : 

asylums,  68,  84,  159 

blind,  68,  159,  160 

cre'ches,  159 

cripples,  68,  159 

eye,  10,  18,  68,  177 

hospitals,  45,   67,  68,  91,   106, 
159,  160,  199,  203,  244 

incurables,  68,  159 

insane,  68,  159,  243 

leper,  10,  45,  91,  160 

orphans,  39,  91,  158,  159,  160, 
163,  203 

schools.     See    American,    Eng- 
lish, etc. 

soup-kitchen,  243 

Jacobites,      143,      198.      And     see 

Syrians 

Jaffa,   16,  17,  32,  33,  129,   190,  191 
Jerusalem,  amusements  in,    3,   11, 

301-2,  359,  360 

-  aspect  of,  1,  12,  15,  134 

-  books  on,  2.   And  see  Authorities 

-  descriptions  of,  12,  133,  296-98 

-  fireworks,  362 

-  humours  of,  29,  210 

-  language,  9,  10,  77,  234,  359 

-  roads,  343,  365 

-  sanitary  conditions  of,  20,  23, 

24,  25,  33,  53,  54,  204,  298, 
359,  365 

-  sport  in,  345 

-  temperament,  21 

-  trade,  9,  39,  50,  59,  77,  132,  184, 

185,  209,  239,  284,  296,  297 

—  visitors,  royal,  to,  360,  362,  366 
Jesuits,  90,  188,  197,  237 

Jews  : 

—  Abraham's  vineyard,  70-72 


382 


INDEX 


Jews,  continued — 

—  as  agriculturists,  61,  132 

—  Alliance  Israelite,  9,  33,  56,60,63 

—  almsgiving  of,  57,  64 

—  Association,     Anglo-Jewish,    9, 

66,  74 

—  characteristics  of,  57 

-  charity  of.     See  Alms 

-  citizens,  as,  55,  73,  131 

-  colonists,  as,  38,  58,  59,  61,  63 

-  Colonization   Association,     58, 

63,  74 

--  conversion  of,  to    Christianitv, 

64,  65-70,  202,  325 

-  conversion  of,  to  Moslem  faith, 

250 

-  customs  of,  preserved,  57,  58, 

59,  60,  73,  295 

-  exactions  from,  53 
hospitals  of,  67,  68,  362,  363 

-  hospital  for  conversion  of,   67, 

199,  373 

-  House    of    Industry    for    con- 

version of,  70 

-  in  Holy  Places,  73,  349 

-  language  of,  9,  58,  60,  63,  67,  69 

-  loyalty  of  English,  71,  72 

-  and  Latins,  64,  91,  158 

-  and  Moslems,  72,  73,  250,  365 

-  population  of,  55,  64 

-  privileges  of,  52 

-  protection  for,  52 

-  Rabbis,  58,  60,  64 

-  Chief,  53,  56 

-  schools  of,  56,  60,   63,"  69,  197, 

254,  362,  363 
—  art,  62,  68 
technical,  9,  55,  59,  61,  63,  68 

-  torah,  58 

-  trade,    9,    59,    209.       And    see 

Colonists 

—  institutions,  classification  of,  56 

-  superiority  of,  68,  69,  74 

—  Sects : 

Ashkenazim,  56,  64 
Chasidim,  56 
Karaite,  56 
Rabbinists,  56 
Sephardim,  56,  64 
various,  56 

—  synagogues,  14,  58 

—  Zionists,  40-55 

Knights  of  St.  John,  or  Hospitallers, 
14,  141,  144,  330 


Labour,  3.  31,  33.      And  see  Trade 
Law,  48,  50,  51,  97 


Lydda,  129 

Latins  and  Latin.     See  Uniats. 

—  agriculture,  183-84 

-  Arabs,  158 

-  buildings,  13,  125 

charities,  151,  158,  159,  162, 

163 

Custode,    92,   147,   149,   154, 

170,  172 

educational  institutions : 

religious,  150,  157 
secular,  151,  157,  158,  162 
technical,  162,  163,  197 

—  Franciscans,  91,  93,   103,  143- 

53,   162,   165,  167-79,    188, 
191,  220,  292,  331,  332. 

history,  ancient,  131  et  seq. 

modern,  146,  154  et  seq. 

—  institutions,  151,  157,  159,  190, 

203 

-  Jews,  64,  73,  91,  158,  363 

—  kingdom,  143  et  seq.,   183 

—  and  Moslems,  160 

—  objects,  91,  113,  149,  158 

—  Orders,  4,  85,  91,  158,  165,  188, 

189,  190,  202,  231 

—  patriarchate,  93,  94,   143,   154, 

155,  157 

—  pilgrimages,  160 

—  Popes,  94,   101,   125,   127,   138, 

139,  145,  146,  161,  182 

—  protectorate,  92,  155,  177 

—  schools,  150,  151,  157,  158,  160, 

162,  163,  197 

Mahomet,  history  of,  273 

-  in  Jerusalem,  221,  225 

—  mantle  of,  249 

—  morality  of,  271,  274,  279,  289 

—  steed  of,  221 

—  slaves  of,  271 

—  teaching  of,  274-77 
Maronites,  119,  164 

—  Megiddo,  371 

—  Mshetta,  371 

Missions  and  Missionaries,  31,  204, 
206,  213,  231,  254,  261,  283 

—  American,  86,  90,  159,  186,  189, 

197,  207,  231,  237,  324 

—  English,  4,  18,  193,  203,  284 

—  C.M.S.,      188,      189,      190-207, 

213 

—  L.J.S.,   67,   69,   196,    199,   200, 

202 

—  French.     See  Latin 

—  German,  203,  207,  324 

—  Jesuit,  90,  197,  237 

—  Presbyterian,  197,  207 


383 


INDEX 


Missions      and     Missionaries,    con- 
tinued— 

—  Scotch,  159.  207,  324 

—  Quaker,  5,  207,  324 
Moslem.     See  Arab,  Government 

—  amusements,  284,  301,  302 

—  aristocracy,  239,  247,  303,  310 

—  art,  232,  233,  234 

—  bath,  305-7 

—  caliphs,  108,  140,  147,  183,  249 

—  characteristics,  8,  236,  266,  325 

—  charity.     See  Philanthropy 

—  children,  259,  303,  312 

—  club,  255,  301 

—  dancing,  313,  314 

—  dervishes,  248,  288 

—  divorce,  252,  271 

—  dress,    19,   211,   239,   247,   253, 

256, 257, 260, 285, 302, 303-4, 
309,  316,  325 

—  education,  237,  254,  259,  275 

—  entertainment,  256  et  seq.,  302 

—  food,  20,  281,  301,  311 

—  forbearance,  275,  277,  291 

—  girls,  45,  237,  254,  259 

—  green,  249 

—  homes,   14,  233,  234,  263,  284, 

303,  307-8 

—  hospital,  45,  67,  160,  244 

-  Jerusalem,  relation  to,  291,  298 

-  literature,  237,  238 

—  loyalty,  238 

—  marriage,  258,  260,  280,  304,  305 
—  description  of,  302-22 

-  morality,    251,    270,    272,    273 

290,  311 

-  mosques,  13,  14,  221,    222-24, 

291-96 
—  muezzin,  240,  244 

-  nationality  of,  230 

-  philanthropy,    207,    242,    244, 

245,  264,  278,  285 

-  physique,  253 

-  pilgrimage,  136,  246,  247,  249 

-  polygamy,  251,  252,  263,   271, 

272 

-  prison,  54,  160,  244 

—  professions,  239 

—  schools,  45,  237,  254 

—  superstitions,  262 

—  swearing,  29,  235,  275 

—  trade,  239,  284,  296,  297 

—  women,  251-65,  280,  281,  282, 

325 

—  education,  44,  237,  254 

—  manners,    257,    273,    304,    310, 

325,  326 

—  occupations,  256,  257,  259,  301 


Moslem,  continued — 

regard  for,  254,  261,  262,  281. 
Moslem  faith  : 

—  attractions,  268-72 

—  animals,  221,  286,  287,  289 

—  charity,  212,213.  And  see  Phil- 

anthropy, Moslem. 

—  Christianity,  201,202,  272,276, 

280,  291-94,  297 

—  circumcision,  212,  299 

—  dogma,  280,  284,  285 

—  Hebron,  294 

—  iconoclasm,  283 

—  Jews,   73,   250,   252,   276,   279,. 

298,  299 

—  Koran,  51,  235,  272,  274,  275, 

276,  279,  280,  284,  285,  310 

—  and  life,  242,  278 

—  ritual,    222,    241,   240-42,    269,. 

281-82,  310 

—  rosary,  281 

—  sacred    places,    221,    235,    246, 

294,  291,  295 
Omar  in,  226-28 

—  Sachra,  traditions  of,  221-24 

—  Haram  Area,  221-27,  243,  291, 

299,  300 

Museums,  11,  105,  106,  113,  117 
Music,  11,  22,  69,  80,  86,  127,  128r 
158,  159.     And  see  Russians 

Nebi  Musa,  246 

Palestine,  131,  132,  133 
Patriarch  :  orthodox,    85,    87,  88, 
103,  227,  228 

—  Latin,  94,  103,  143,  154,  157 

—  various,   78,   85,   88,    104,    112,. 

117,  120,  121,  163,  227 
Population,  55,  64,  78,  91,  131,  137, 

177 
Protestant,   4,   91,    104,    191,    194, 

207,  215,  220,  268,  269,  283,. 

323,  324 

Russia  and  Russian.      See  Consul 

—  ambassador,  90 

—  Arabs  utilization  of,  85,  86,  87" 

—  archimandrite,  76,  87,  93 

—  art,  86 

—  buildings,  82 

—  churches,  86,  89 
Western  C.,  90-97 

—  Czar,  82,  94 

—  devotion,  78,  79,  80,  113 

—  education,  84,  85,  90 

—  and  France,  91,  92,  94 


384 


INDEX 


—  Greeks,  rivalry  with,  78,  84,  86, 

92 
liberality  to,  87 

—  hospital,  82,  83 

—  music,  80,  86,  127,  128 

—  pilgrims,  78,  80,  82,  83,  84,  87 

—  policy,  12,  76,  79,  85,  88,  89,  90 

—  protector  of  orthodoxy,  89 

—  property,  89 

—  schools,  84,  86,  89 

—  sects,  protection  of,  88 

—  Society,  Imperial  Orthodox,  82, 

84 

—  tower,  75,  76,  90 

Soldiery,  Turkish,  51,  96,  109,  177 
178,  205,  207,  219,  281,  289 

—  exempted,  48,  51,  219 
Suburbs,  12,  14,  15,  18,  35 
Sultan,  52,  141,  146 
Survey,  368 

Syrian  Church,  89,  109,  110,118-20, 
143,  232 

—  race,  218,  219,  230 

Travellers,    33,  213,  298 


Travellers,  continued — 

—  brutality  of,  47,  214 

—  grace  of,  215 

—  intelligence  of,  213 

—  reverence  of,  113,  219,  220 

—  variety  of,  219 

-  women,  215,  217,  218 
Woman.     See  Moslem. 

—  benefactors,  148,  181,  183,  185, 

329—35 

—  Christian,  323-35,  326,  327 

—  English,  215,  217,  218,  219 

—  Fellah,  324 

—  French,  323 

—  German,  323 

—  history  in,  329-35 

—  levantine,  323,  324,  326 

-  pilgrims,  136,  141,  181,  329 

—  servants,  323-4 

—  tourists,  215,  217,  218 

—  tradition,   depositories  of,    181, 

261,  325 

—  work  among,  45,  189,  261,  325 

And  see  Institutions 
Water,  19,  20,  21,  53,  184,  210 
Wheeled  vehicles,  365 


NAMES   OF   PERSONS   MENTIONED 


Aberdeen,  Lord,  359 
Alexander  III,  82 
Alexander,  Bishop,  187,  198 
Alexius  V,  144 
Argyll,  Bishop  of,  366 

Baldensperger,  39,  367 
Barclay,  Bishop,  367 
Beaumont,  359 
Bliss,  369 
Blyth,  Bishop,  192 
Bonomi,  291 

Caliphs,  108,  140,  147,  183,  249 

Cant,  Dr.,  177 

Catherine  II,  89 

Charlemagne,    102,    138,    139,    183, 

228 

Chosroes,  125,  129,  182,  229 
Connor,  114 
Constantino,  101,  102,  135,  148 

d'Aubigny,  Philip,  180 
Dickson,  Consul,  210 
Dowling,  Canon,  124 

Finn,  Mrs.,  70,  155 
Gudea  of  Mongolia,  133 


Haroun  er  Raschid,  137,  139,  183, 

228,  229 

Helena,  105,  135 
Heraclius,  Emperor,  129,  182 
Hertze,  55 
Hunt,  Holman,  358 

Isaac  Angelus,  Emperor,  107 
Jacomb,  Miss,  204 
Kent,  Duke  of,  196 

Lascaris,  Theodore,  144 
Lucar,  Cyril,  185 
Laud,  185,  186 
Lavalette,  157 
Lavigerie,  Cardinal,  158 

Macarius,  Bishop,  135 

Mansouroff,  84 

Masterman,  Dr.,  21 

Maximilian,  Archduke,  361-2 

Meshullam,  40 

Miller,  39 

Minor,  39,  40 

Montefiore,  Sir  M.,  40,  58,  362,  363 

Muller,  39 


385 


c  c 


INDEX 


Napier,  Lord,  72 
Nelidoff,  de,  84 
Nordau,  55 

Omar,  227,  228,  294 

Palmerston,  Lord,  186 
Patriarchs  : 

Paul,  Grand  Duke,  93 

Peter  the  Hermit,  229 

Philippow,  de,  84 
Pilgrims,  early,  136,  137,  138,  147, 
181,  292,  293,  329,  331 

Reich,  55 
Beinhardt,  359 
Robinson,  2,  358,  367 
Roth,  358 

Rothschild,  de,  56,  58 
Royal  visitors,  366. 


Saladin,  229,  230 
Seddon,  358 

Sergius,  Grand  Duke,  82,  93 
Schneller,  39 
Shaftesbury,  Lord.  187 
Spafford,  Mrs.,  42,  44 
Spittler  of  Basel,  38,  39 
Stanley,  Dean,  355,  366 
Sultans,  141,  146,  183,  370-1 

Theodosius,  Emperor,  102 
Thomas  a  Becket,  181 
Thompson,  367 
Tissot,  358 
Touro,  362 

Waldmeier,  159,  243 
Wortley,  Montagu,  298 

Yakut,~228 


AUTHORS  AND  WORKS  REFERRED  TO 


Abelfaragius,  108,  120 
Alphonse  d'Alonzo,  91 
Annals  of  Eutychius  Selden,  227 
Assemarni,  165 
Azais,  Abbe,  293 

Baedeker,  83,  267 
Bassi,  P.,  163 
Berchem,  Max  von,  227 
Bernard,  Saint,  355 
Bernardino,  368 
Belon  de  Mans.  Pierre  de,  148 
Besant,  Sir  W.,  133 
Biggs,  Rev.  C.,  166,  283 
Biblical  Researches,  2,  197 
Blackburn,  119 
Bliss,  367,  339 
Blyth,  Bishop,  193 
Brightman,  327 
Brocquiere,  de  la,  146 
Burder,  359 
Burckhardt,  2 
Burchard,  131 
Burton,  Sir  R.,  2,  6,  352 
—  Lady,  6,  99,  123,  207,  218,  253, 
261,  268,  281 

Calahorra,  146 
Chaplin,  Dr.,  21,  199,  243 
Christian  Researches  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, 112,  122 
Chronica  de  Syria  y  Terra  Santa, 

146 

Church  Life  and  Letters,  327 
Church  and  the  Christian  Empire, 
The,  102 


Clarke,  DA,  372 
Clermont-Ganneau,   137,  215,  230, 

236,  261,  367,  369 
Codex  Alexandrinus,  185 
Colonies  Franques,  Les,  144,  184 
Conder,  296 
Crashaw,  357 
Creighton,  Bishop,   102 
Crescent  and  the  Cross,   The,    186, 

152 
Curzon,  112 

Dilton,  Canon,  213 

Days  in  Galilee,  112 

De  Fanciennete  de    Fhopital,    etc., 

141 
De    prima    origine    Hospitaliorum, 

etc.,  141 
D3  Vogue,  126 
Dickie,  369 
Diet.  Hist.  Bayle,  287 
Disraeli,  266 

Divinity  of  our  Lord,  166 
Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,  261 
Dcummond,  257 

Eglises  de  la  Terre  Sainte,  126 

I'Eglise  de  Bethleem,  139 

Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Orthodox 

Greek  Church,  99 
Emigration    Romaine    en    Terre 

Sainte,  330 

English  works  in  Syria,  237,  238 
Eothen,  241 
Eutychius,  Pat.,  227 

386 


INDEX 


Fabri,  368; 

Farrar,  Dean,  3661    K 

Fathers  of  Greek  and  Latin  Church 

100,  101,  106,  137,  140,  181, 

247,  254,  336,  342, 
Ferguson,  224 
Finn,  Consul,  6,  48,  108,  155,  179, 

358    .; 
Fleury,  143 

Georgian  Hist.,  148 

Gibbon,  181 

Gobat,  Bishop,  122,  187,  191,  202, 

i  203,  205,  249 

Gratz,  250 

Guide  Lievin,  113 

Hackett,  367 

Hadji  Baba,  163,  211,  255 

Haifa,  153 

Hamaso,  261 

Hanauer,  4,  38,  199,  246,  368,  372 

Headlam,  79 

Historians,  Greek,  101 

Holy  City,  The,  198 

Hore,  99,  120,  145 

Horn,  Elzear,  163 

Hutton,  186 

Istoria  dello  etc.  Gerusalemme,  163 
Itinera  Hierosolymitana,  138 

Jewish  Encylopaedia,  250 

Jewish  Life  in  the  East,  57,  198, 

364 

John  Diac,  137 
Josephus,  2 

Kaab  ibn  Zoheir,  249 
Keble,  351-54 
Kinglake,  241 
Kipling,  338 
Kordn,  Sale's,  270  etc. 
—  Muir's,  270  etc. 
Korten,  Jonas,  135,  372 

Lamartine,  152 

Lambarde,  108 

Layard,  358 

L'echo  d1  Orient,  90 

Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Sara- 
cens, 289 

Lehrbuch  der  Chronologic,  117,  118 

Le  Strange;  226 

Lewis,  Professor  Hayter,  224 

Liddon,  166 

Lievin,  P.,  149,  247 

Life  of  Bishop  Gobat,  64,  187,  188, 
289 


Locorum  etc.* Terr ae  Sanctae,  163 
Lynch,  367 

Macalister,  368 

Macgregor  (Rob  Boy),  365 

Mahomet,  Life  of,  275,  289 

Margoliouth,  Professor,  72 

Marita,  163 

Masudi,  107 

Matthew  Paris,  142 

Maundrell,  111,  146,  155,  216,  293 

Max  Miiller,  289 

Meji  ed  din,  334 

Milman,  143 

Missions  to  Jews,  64 

Moines  d?  Occident,  137 

Monasteries  of  the  Levant,  112 

Moncalembert,  137 

Mouravieff,  149 

Muir,  Sir  W.,  271,  277,  278,  289 

Mukaddasi,  296-98 

Muthir  al  Ghirdm,  226 

Nasiri  Khusran,  298,  299 
New  Pilgrim's  Progress,  251 
Neale,  351 

Oliphant,  Laurence,  152 
—  Mrs.,  366 
Outer  Isles,  262 

Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  226 

Palmer,  39,  118 

P.E.F.,2,    4,    119,  133,   248,  296, 

367-69 

Petrie,  Flinders,  368 
Petermann,  358 
Pilgrims'  Texts,  368 
Poloner,  John,  368 
Porter,  367 
Post,  Dr.,  G.  2,  162,  367 

Quaresimus,  229,  330 

Reports,  C.M.S.,   1894-1902,    201, 

202,  213 

Reise  Altona,  135 
Revue  Biblique,  2,  161 
Revue  de  V  Orient  Latin,  333 
Key,  144,  184 
Riant,  Comte  de,  139 
Robinson,  2,  197,  358 
Rogers,  Miss,  261 
Rossetti,  Christina,  355 
Roulx,  Delaville  de,  141 

Saige,  141 

Samuel  Montagu,  57,  199 

Sandey,  Professor,  366 


387 


INDEX 


Schick,  Dr.,  39,  119,  140,  198,  3(58, 

372 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  105,  237,  351 
Six  Months  in  Jerusalem,  1 GO,  220, 

283 

Smith,  Geo.  Adam,  2,  300 
Stanley,  Dean,  99,  120,  355,  300 
Stato  delle  Missioni,  103 
Status  descript.,  etc.,  103 
Stirring  Times,  0,  48,  108,  155,  273 
Strangford,  Lady,  273 
Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  Lord,  5] 

Talisman,  351 

Teaching  of  the  Russian  Church,  79 

Testimony  borne  by  the  Koran,  etc., 

270 

The  City  and  the  Land,  214 
Thierry,  330 
Thompson,  307 
Times  newspaper,  132 
Tobler,  138 


Topographical  Dictionary,  108 
Tozer,  102,  121 
Tristram,  2 

Twain,  Mark,   134,   149,  211,  214, 
251,  338,  349 

Vertdt,  141,  142 
Vincent,  P.  247 
Visit  to  the  Russian  Church,  118 

Warburton,  Eliot,  180,  2.V2 
Warren,  300 
Watson,  William,  200 
Wheatley,  107 
William  of  Tyre,  144 
Williams,  Rev.  G.,  198,  307 
Wordsworth,  Bishop,  100 
Wiinsch,  307 

Zangwill,  55,  57,  05,  300 
Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Palaestina 
Verains,  2 


Cutler  &  Tanner,  The  Selwood  Printing  Works,  Frome,  and  London. 

388 


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